Skaggs lays off 12 workers

Branson-based Skaggs Regional Medical Center has laid off 12 workers and eliminated five unoccupied positions in an effort to prepare for the anticipated realities of health care reform, according to a statement from William Mahoney, Skaggs president and CEO.

"To better align the facility with the predicted expectations of health care reform, Skaggs knows it must reduce $6 million in costs during this fiscal year," he said in the statement. "We are achieving this by creating better efficiencies across various operational areas.

"The cuts in labor reflect less than 15 percent of cuts being made this year."

Hospital officials made the staff cuts Feb. 28 and March 1, though it is preparing for hires elsewhere.

"The 12 positions included managers and office personnel, and were not clinical in nature," Mahoney said in the statement. "Through this repositioning, Skaggs Regional Medical Center is able to hire more clinical professionals, including positions with our new geriatric psychiatric unit and expansion of our orthopedic unit."[[In-content Ad]]