The Mercy heath system plans to lay off up to 350 employees as a cost-saving measure.
Affected employees, the majority of which are in leadership roles, will be notified next week, according to a statement provided by Mercy Springfield Communities spokeswoman Sonya Kullmann. However, staff members at the Springfield hospital already knew about the moves today when Springfield Business Journal sought to confirm an anonymous news tip.
The statement points to organizational changes over the St. Louis health system’s four-state system comprising Missouri, Arkansas, Kansas and Oklahoma. It did not say how many would be affected in the Springfield region, and Kullmann declined to answer further questions. Corporate spokeswoman Barb Meyer, of St. Louis, referred questions back to Springfield.
The layoffs come a year after Mercy laid off 42 positions in Springfield as part of a systemwide elimination of 220 jobs, which also were mostly management roles, according to
SBJ archives.
“Over the past decade, while we have made good progress in adapting to a constantly shifting health care landscape, the challenges we face require us to move faster than ever in keeping pace with change and meeting the evolving needs of our communities,” the provided statement reads. “Financially, Mercy faces increasing challenges to our reimbursement structure as we adjust to reductions mandated by the Affordable Care Act and other budget cuts, as well as the lack of Medicaid expansion in most of our states.
“Clinically and culturally, there continue to be opportunities to further standardize care and operational practices, in order to support the highest levels of quality and safety, as well as minimize the cost of variation.”
Mercy employs
nearly 40,000 systemwide, including roughly 2,500 leadership members. In the Springfield area, the health system employs over 9,000, making it No. 1 on Springfield Business Journal’s list of the Area’s Largest Employers.
Mercy Springfield Communities reported local revenue of $1.57 billion in 2014, up from $1.55 billion in 2013, according to SBJ research.[[In-content Ad]]
