Mercy lays off 39 Springfield employees

Citing two consolidations of operations, Mercy has laid off 39 Springfield employees.

Mercy Springfield Communities spokeswoman Sonya Kullmann issued a statement, stating the St. Louis-based health system's revenue management division recently completed a consolidation of its hospital and physician clinic business office operations. The action resulted in 30 Springfield employees and 70 workers systemwide losing their positions.

"By bringing these teams together, the division will be able to achieve some of the patient satisfaction goals that Mercy has long been working toward, from creating a combined statement covering both hospital and clinic bills, to establishing a single phone number for scheduling appointments," the statement said. "This consolidation regretfully has necessitated a reduction in business office positions within Mercy due to redundancies in roles and functions."

Related to the revenue management consolidation, the majority of the eliminated positions are revenue team members located in Springfield, St. Louis and Oklahoma City.

Mercy's supply management division, dubbed Resource Optimization and Innovation, also has put in motion plans to consolidate its print services, which includes moving most of its Springfield-based print shop operations to St. Louis by June 30. As such, the health system has reduced its print volume, leading to nine employees being laid off to fit the smaller operation, according to Tanya Marion, regional vice president of human resources for Mercy Springfield Communities.

According to the statement, Mercy is looking to aid the displaced workers find other positions within the health system.