As hospitals try to avoid eliminating services, many are trimming their staff to save funds. Not even management positions are safe these days.
For instance, 117 mid-level management positions are being cut from Virginia-based Inova Health System, according to Kaiser Health News. Health system officials attribute the job cuts to the still sluggish economy and the unknown effects of health reform.
Efforts to shrink the levels of bureaucracy between senior managers and patients (and thereby improving patient care) also led Inova to eliminate the mid-level management positions, notes KHN.
Enloe Medical Center in Chico, Calif., has the same idea, choosing to eliminate five administrative positions and merge several departments, the Chico Enterprise Record reports.
The hospital is removing its chief compliance officer, security manager, security supervisor, an administrative assistant in security, and the vice president of the Enloe Foundation. The Risk Management and Corporate Compliance departments will be combined, as well as the Security and Valet Parking and Emergency Medical Services departments.
The restructuring is expected to save the hospital roughly $800,000 a year in salaries and benefits, as well as improve communication and collaboration between staff.
For more:
- here's the Kaiser Health News article
- read the Chico Enterprise Record article