Mercy cuts 57 Springfield jobs, plans to add 76 in April

Chesterfield-based Sisters of Mercy Health System, parent organization for St. John's Health System in Springfield, is eliminating 226 positions - including 57 in Springfield - as part of a companywide restructuring effort, the system announced Thursday afternoon.

Of the 57 eliminated Springfield positions, nine were cut through attrition, and none of the cuts were in patient-care areas, according to a written statement from St. John's.

Workers who lost their jobs are being offered outplacement services and severance packages including compensation and benefits based on their position and the length of their service with the organization.

"While these changes are not uncommon today, they nonetheless are difficult,” said Jon Swope, St. John’s Health System president and CEO, in the statement. “We appreciate the community’s consideration and concern for our co-workers as these changes are announced and we put our new organizational structure in place.”

The company also plans to add 76 jobs in the Springfield area in mid-April in conjunction with a new consolidated regional business office, serving Mercy needs in Springfield, Joplin and Oklahoma, according to the statement.

The 226 total cuts from the Mercy work force - 89 of which were in leadership positions - represent about half of 1 percent of the organization's total employment of roughly 36,000.

The moves are part of an organizational restructuring for Mercy, which operates hospitals and health services in 240 communities in Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma and Arkansas.[[In-content Ad]]