(Updated Dec. 22)
Layoff announcements have increased this year as hospitals and health systems limp out of a financially devastating 2022.
Cuts among healthcare companies including hospitals are 99% year over year through 11 months, according to a recent multisector report from Challenger, Gray & Christmas. It's no surprise the volume of layoff waves from hospitals and health systems during that time have handily surpassed 2022’s full-year totals by summer.
So far, the job eliminations are coming from organizations big and small, whether that be a major health system like Adventist Health or Jefferson Health aiming to reorganize its administrative expenses or a smaller hospital scaling down services out of financial necessity.
The cuts are also primarily falling on the shoulders of administrative staff or even upper-level management rather than patient-facing employees. In fact, many organizations paired their layoff announcements with notices that they were continuing to aggressively hire nurses and other clinical positions that, despite steady hiring trends, are still in high demand.
Read on below for a running roundup of 100 layoff announcements, news reports and regulatory filings from hospitals and health systems during 2023.
Acadia Healthcare will be laying off 288 employees with the summer closure of its Cascade Behavioral Health Hospital in Washington. The layoffs are slated to begin on July 31, per a regulatory filing, and a local union told press that Acadia has not offered severance pay to the workers.
Adena Health System President and CEO Jeff Graham announced 69 job cuts as well as the transition of 340 revenue cycle department employees to Ensemble Health Partners, a vendor the system has partnered with since 2018. Adena employed about 4,250 people prior to the cuts and transitions. Graham said that those who were laid off would be eligible for severance and outplacement assistance and that about half of these employees are qualified to fill other open roles. The system will still continue to hire “in strategic areas,” he noted.
Adventist Health laid off 59 administrative employees as part of a reorganization to consolidate its care networks and ultimately save $100 million in costs. System leadership said all affected staff were given 60 days written notice and would make “every effort to identify other opportunities for team members impacted.” Layoffs began Feb. 1 and continued to April.
Allegheny Health Network, the Pennsylvania health system under Highmark Health, laid off two people amid the year's second round of layoffs affecting the parent company. The June cuts included 118 Highmark employees and come just a couple months after 141 others were laid off.
Allina Health announced in July a labor reduction "that impacts fewer than 350 team members," most of which are leadership and non-diret caregiving positions. The system pointed to "unprecedented financial challenges" and said it would be offering severance, health benefits and outplacement resources to those affected. Allina employs more than 28,000 people, according to its website.
Altru Health System CEO Todd Forkel described in an interview three recent executive cuts and early retirement incentive packages that were accepted by 34 staff. The system’s margins are narrowly in the black, though it had to take out an additional loan to cover rising costs for ongoing new hospital construction.
Ascension laid off an undisclosed number of workers employed within its Texas branch due to industrywide operational pressures. The large nonprofit system said in statements that it aimed to minimize any impact on patient care and that the cuts were focused primarily on nonclinical support positions. Elsewhere, the system’s decision to end maternity care at its St. Vincent’s Riverside hospital impacted the jobs of 62 registered nurses and six other employees, per a regulatory filing. The cuts go into effect for those who do not find another position within the organization and will be eligible for severance pay.
Baptist Health gave its director-and-above employees a one-time voluntary separation offer back in June. By late November about five dozen have reportedly taken the system up on its offer.
Billings Clinic is laying of a little over two dozen employees to cut costs amid a restructure addressing the organization's $4.5 million monthly shortfall. Among the first of those let go were working in IT and compliance.
Boone Health, a publicly run system, is cutting 62 jobs. Fifteen of those are held by a current employee, each of whom will receive severance. The organization, which was previously a part of BJC HealthCare, currently comprises 2,320 positions.
The organization later announced plans to close its home and hospice care division due to "ongoing challenges with staffing and reimbursement." Twenty-six roles were impacted by the decision though the majority were eligible for other roles. Job losses went into effect Dec. 2, with benefits running through the end of the year.
Cambridge Health Alliance is laying off 69 of its roughly 4,800 employees, though it said it plans to rehire about half into new positions. The Massachusetts system also reduced hours for 15 of its employees and cut 170 open positions as it looks to shore up its budget.
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center is laying off 131 non-unionized employees at its main facility and about two dozens more at other locations. The cuts represent less than a percent of the organization's total workforce and are primarily affecting non-patient care positions such as administrative support staff, pharmacy technicians and management.
CommonSpirit Health disclosed "approximately 2,000" full-time job cuts in its annual financial statements. The cuts occurred during the Catholic giant's fourth fiscal quarter, which runs from April 1 to June 30. The cuts were made across ancillary, support and overhead functions, but were "partially offset by an increase in clinical staff" the system said.
Community Health Network is planning to cut an unspecified number of jobs as part of a workforce restructuring. The nonprofit system, which reportedly lost $161 million last year, did not give a timeline for the restructuring.
Community Memorial Hospital laid off 30 staff around Nov. 1, reportedly due to the closure of an on-campus nursing home.
Compas Health's over 500 employees look to be out of a job amid the Massachusetts system's sudden closure. The company has yet to formally address how many people were impacted, and the employees reportedly said they were caught offguard by the announcement.
Cone Health eliminated 61 positions, 21 of which affected director-level employees who were offered severance packages. The remaining 40 positions were unfilled. The cuts represent roughly a quarter of a percent of the system’s 13,000-person workforce. Finances and rising expenses were behind the position, with Cone reporting a $97.2 million loss across fiscal 2022.
Crozer Health cut the positions of roughly 215 employees, or 4% of its total workforce, as part of a restructuring that cut costs, optimized administrative efforts and shuttered underutilized health services. The system said it would be considering impacted employees for other open positions and providing access to outplacement services to others.
Dartmouth Health laid off 75 workers and will be cutting another 100 empty roles. "The majority" of those eliminations were slated for June 23. In a statement, the system said that the cuts weren't based on the individual employees but on the specific roles they held.
Duke University Health System is eliminating 280 positions through a combination of retirements, redeployments and closure of vacant positions. "Fewer than 50" of these affect employees in administrative and managerial roles, which the system said "will be provided support through outplacement services and redeployments where possible."
Eastern Niagara Hospital announced a June closure after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in late 2019, resulting in layoffs for 337 employees.
Excela-Butler (the as-yet-rebranded entity resulting from Excela Health and Butler Health’s merger) laid off 13 manager-level staff that did not provide direct patient care. Those affected hailed from both sides of the new entity, which has been aiming to revamp its expenses.
Fairview Health Services is cutting about 250 positions in response to operating challenges. Not all of the roles are filled, though those who will be let go represent less than a percent of the system's total workforce and are mostly in part-time positions. The cuts will be completed before the end of the year.
Geisinger axed 47 IT workers as part of a department-wide restructure. The Pennsylvania-based system, which employs about 24,000 people, cited "financial challenges caused by high labor and supply costs" for the resturcture.
Habersham Medical Center released four executives—it's CEO and president, chief operating officer, vice president of culture and wellness and director of finance—to cut costs ahead of the publicly owned facility's July 1 acquisition by Northeast Georgia Health System.
Health First cut 17 filled positions and leaving 36 others unfilled. The four-hospital Florida system said it still has 650 open jobs and plans to help affected workers find new positions among these if possible.
Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital said it was making "a little over 100" layoffs, about 5.5% of its roughly 1,800 employees. The cuts came across multiple different departments though a representative told press that the reductions "have been carefully considered and prioritize patient care."
Hutchinson Regional Medical Center announced a staffing reduction impacting 85 positions. These employees were eligible for a paid notice period and COBRA health benefits continuation. The system said it was pairing the layoffs with other efforts to manage expenses.
Independence Health System has laid off 53 people and eliminated 226 positions via a combination of retirements, resignations and open position cuts during the first half of 2023, a move it said will help "address and overcome the economic challenges facing both our system and the healthcare industry as a whole."
Integris Health announced plans to eliminate 200 positions in January, about 140 of which will see employees leaving the organization. The 16-hospital system said it will also be focusing on reducing non-labor expenses going forward.
IU Health filed a WARN notice reporting lays to lay off "approximately 84 employees" None of the affected employees will have "bumping rights" into other open positions, though the 18-hospital system said it "intends to offer opportunities for reassignment or redeployment, as well as severance and outplacement services." The cuts are related to a financial rework of the system's Blackford Hospital in Hartford City, Indiana.
Jefferson Health started the year with a reorganization that included “an unspecified number of job cuts, mostly among executives.” The academic system said its efforts would help streamline and optimize operations after years of rapid expansion and financial losses reported by parent organization Thomas Jefferson University.
In a July statement, Jefferson Health CEO Joseph Cacchione confirmed a workforce reduction affecting about 1% of the system's employees, or about 400 people. The cuts were largely focused on corporate and administrative functions, he said, and came after reviewing other operational changes and eliminating numerous open positions.
John Muir Health is laying off 164 workers in the run up to a Jan. 1 sale of its home health services division, per regulatory filings with the state of California and media reports. The cuts will go into effect by Dec. 29.
Kaiser Permanente disclosed 49 layoffs across several to the state of California. The disclosures were filed in early October and listed as going into effect by Nov. 10
In December, Kaiser then disclosed 155 IT role eliminations within its Northern California division that occurred in November. No impacted employees were union workers. Employees who do not find another role in the organization will receive severance, career support and outplacement services.
Shortly after the IT eliminations came another disclosure of 79 administrative cuts, which Kaiser reported would be official on Jan. 4. The organization told media that any employees who don't land in another Kaiser position are granted severance packages, career support and outplacement services.
Katherine Shaw Bethea Hospital is reportedly laying off 20 employees in mid-April, less than 2% of its 980 full- and part-time workforce. Impacted employees will be given severance packages and other career assistance.
Kaweah Health followed up on previous rounds of cuts with an additional 94 eliminations. The district hospital’s collective 200-or-so cuts plus other measures including overtime reduction, shift-bonus cuts and a half on 401(k) contributions add up to about $98 million in much-needed annual savings, leadership said.
Mad River Community Hospital’s suspension of home health services comes with 27 job eliminations, though the affected employees are encouraged to apply for other vacant positions within the hospital or its outpatient departments.
Madera Community Hospital’s January closing came with 772 permanent layoffs effective Jan. 3. Of these, 687 were among those at the main hospital campus. The facilities were running at a $2.5 million per month operational deficit.
Marshfield Clinic Health System filed a layoff notice affecting 346 employees across the organization. The workers were notified in early March with the layoffs taking permanent effect by May 19. The system said it has also cut over 500 unfilled positions and cited industrywide financial pressures.
McLaren Health Care’s spring closure of St. Luke’s Hospital will come with layoffs for 743 employees, about a third of whom are registered nurses, the organization wrote in a regulatory notice. Others impacted by the layoffs include nursing assistants, pharmacists, accountants, housekeepers, physical therapists and technicians, the chief operating officer and vice president of patient care services and the chief nursing officer. About 400 of those employees were later hired by Mercy, which bought the location.
Memorial Health announced a workforce restructuring affecting "several hundred colleagues ... including 20% of leadership positions across the organization." The five-hospital system said it would be offering those employees a severance package, health insurance stipend and other support resources, with some employees potentially able to transfer to a different role within the organization. The reductions are expected to trim salary and benefits spending by 5% and will primarily affect leadership, administrative and support positions.
Memorial Hospital Gulfport laid off just under 90 people, less than 2% of its workforce. Some who were cut told press they would remain for two weeks and could apply for another position within the organization.
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center released 337 of its employees across several New York locations, per a regulatory filing (PDF). The organization employs about 22,500, equating the layoffs to less than 2% of its total.
Monument Health laid off 80 employees, or about 1.5% of its workforce, largely among corporate service roles. Unfilled corporate service positions have also been eliminated, though hiring for patient service positions will continue. Those whose positions were eliminated will receive severance packages and career guidance services.
MU Health Care, part of the University of Missouri, axed five unspecified hospital leadership roles as part of a restructuring.
MultiCare Health System said it's laying off 229 employees, or 1% of its workforce, in response to the $121 million it's lost during the first five months of 2023. The reductions include "about two dozen leaders" with most others being spread across support departments.
MUSC Health laid off an undisclosed number of executives and administrators. The layoffs came about a month after the resignation of division CEO Terry Gunn.
Northern Inyo Healthcare District announced it would be laying off 15 of its 460 positions, or about 3% of its total workforce, no later than April 21. The layoffs, which include interim CEO Lionel Chadwick, are all among management. The number would have reached 22, though seven employees chose to take pay cuts.
Novant Health trimmed 50 jobs including multiple executives, such as its executive vice president and chief consumer officer, innovation vice president, and chief transformation and digital officer, in March.
The system disclosed another 160 full-time cuts in the fall tied to an organizational redesign. The positions were primarily administrative and management roles and comprised less than 0.5% of its 36,000-person workforce.
In December, Novant reportedly cut an undisclosed portion of its IT staff as part of a transition to outsourced digital products and services. The exact number of departures will depend on whether some of the workers affected take up new roles within the organization.
Nuvance Health is laying off 102 employees effective April 12 due to the closure of a 100-bed residential healthcare facility. The organization said that some staff could be transitioned to other appropriate openings within the health system and that others will receive 60 days of normal pay and benefits.
Ochsner Health cut 770 positions, or about 2% of its total team, in an effort to save between $125 million and $150 million in annual expenses. It is the largest layoff in the 48-hospital system's history. Both full- and part-time workers will receive full pay and benefits for up to 65 days alongside severance packages and other career and wellness support.
OU Health kicked off the year with word of an organizational overhaul that brought the elimination of roughly 100 filled jobs and the reconfiguration of 200 others. OU Health said the move was necessary in the wake of a summer 2021 merger and paired the news with an announcement that it would be temporarily suspending its employee 401(k) and reducing some paid-time-off accrual.
Overlake Medical Center and Clinics laid off 30 human resources, IT and finance employees, representing about 6% of its administrative staff and less than a percent of its 3,500-person total. A spokesperson told the press that the employees received “a full support package” including severance, career support and continued benefits and that the organization is still recruiting for other clinical positions.
Palmdale Regional Medical Center, part of Southwest Healthcare, laid off 87 employees after suspending a recently opened maternity ward, per a state regulatory filing.
PeaceHealth has eliminated 251 filled positions across its Washington, Oregon and Alaska locations. The cuts will drive over $200 million in "performance improvements," the system's chief administrative officer wrote in a memo to staff, and that those affected could apply to the nearly 1,300 open clinical roles currently available. Later reports outlined layoffs related to the close of its Memorial Health Center urgent care clinic in Vancouver and similar locations slated to shut down this year.
In October, PeaceHealth notified the state of Oregon that its closure of the Sacred Heart Medical Center University District hospital campus and subsequent consolidation. Of the 463 employees who worked at the campus, the organization said it's looking to offer new roles to 325 but lay off at least the other 129.
Pemiscot Memorial Health Systems laid off 10 employees due to declining volumes and other financial challenges. The cuts come from various parts of the small organization and decimated its total headcount.
Penn Medicine launched a reorganization aiming to save $40 million in annual costs by, among other measures, eliminating an undisclosed number of administrative positions. The system repored $147.5 million in operating income in fiscal 2022 as well as a $103.6 million operating profit for the most recent six months ended Dec. 31.
Additionally, affiliate Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health has laid off fewer than 65 of its roughly 9,700 employees who don’t directly care for patients. Those affected reportedly include patient safety department leaders, staff who help monitor suicidal patients and nurses who track certain measures such as surgical complications. The organization said it would be helping those who were laid off find other roles inside and out of the system, and providing severance and continuation of benefits based on the length of their service.
Pipeline Health's White Rock Medical Center laid off 30 administrative and clinical employees across 28 departments. The hospital said it was working through unsustainable operating losses that needed to be addressed. Of note, parent company Pipeline filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last fall.
Priority Hospital Group laid of 48 full-time staff alongside the closure of its Mid Jefferson Extended Care Hospital. Those affected held both clinical and non-clinical roles. Priority said in a statement that it was unable to sustain the specialty hospital once the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency ran its course.
ProMedica Health System (PDF) informed the local government that its divestiture from a skilled nursing facility joint venture would come with the layoffs of 262 regional and corporate support staff. Of these, 255 worked remotely. The system said that it believed some of the employees would be rehired by the joint venture’s purchasing organization.
Later throughout the year, ProMedica filed additional layoff diclosures. These affected 26 skilled nursing support staff, 20 workers in administrative roles and 122 employees working in its home health agency.
Prospect Medical reprtedly cut 26 staff at its Connecticut-based Waterbury Hospital. Seventeen of those are clinical positions, all of which were offered new positions. In total, 20 of the 26 affected staff took up new roles.
Ridgecrest Regional Hospital reported in December that it will lay off 30 employees—23 nurses and seven others—by Feb. 28 due to the upcoming suspension of its labor and delivery unit.
Rochester Regional Health eliminated roughly 60 positions from its 19,000 total. The organization said in a statement that all impacted employees will receive a severance package and opportunities to seek other positions within the system.
Rome Health, a St. Joseph's Health affiliate, disclosed a workforce restructure impacting 32 of the hospital's employees. Some staff were shifted to new positions, others had hours reduced and an undisclosed number were eliminated. Workers were notified in late October and job eliminations went into effect Nov. 30.
Scripps Health told California regulators it was cutting 70 positions across five locations, effective May 8. The layoffs affect those holding corporate roles.
Seattle Children's is cutting 135 leadership positions to combat difficult finances. The layoffs represent about 1.5% of the organization's 9,600 workforce.
Southeast Iowa Regional Medical Center, which is part of Great River Health, plans to lay off 67 employees across two of its hospital, said in a regulatory notice that it plans to lay off 67 employess by Feb. 23, 2024.
Southwest Memorial Hospital laid off nine employees in June to trim long-term expenses. None of the people who were laid off were bedside care providers.
Southwestern Health Resources said it would be laying off an undisclosed number of workers as part of an adjustment to its organizational structure. The group said it would be "providing soupport and resources" for those impacted.
Sovah Health, part of LifePoint Health, axed the chief operating officers of its Danville and Martinsville hospitals, the latter of which had begun his role just a week prior. The positions have been entirely eliminated and redistributed to others on the administrative team.
St. Dominic's announced that 157 individuals "serving in a mixture of full-time, part-time and PRN roles" would be released after the Mississippi system lost "several million dollars" in the last three to five years. The cuts represent about 5.5% of the organization's total workforce. St. Dominic's also closed its behavioral health services.
St. Luke’s Health System said it was cutting about 2% of its 16,000-person workforce, equating to about 320 positions. The mass layoff primarily impacts nonclinical and administrative roles, the system said, and is part of a broader response to rising costs.
St. Mark’s Medical Center laid off 64 of its 144 employees amid trimmed-down service offerings and a transition to the new Rural Emergency Hospital designation.
St. Mary's Health System, part of Covenant Health, is reportedly laying off 31 employees and reducing others' working hours amid financial difficulties.
Steward Health Care laid off the 827 employees of the 325-bed Texas Vista Medical Center when it closed on May 1. Steward said the facility was struggling financially due to the hospital's high proportion of charity and government-paid patients.
Additionally, Steward-owned Sebastian River Medical Center disclosed an unspecified reduction of its workforce as well as some open positions.
Tower Health is laying off 45 people and cutting an additional 55 positions that are currently or soon-to-be vacant due to voluntary departures. Most positions are either in management or impact employees that don't provide clinical care. The financially struggling system employs about 12,000 people and is coming off of a prior round of layoffs in fall 2022.
Another 30 Tower employees got the boot in early December as the system continues to tighten its operations amid losses. A separate group of employees within its IT department have also had their jobs moved to an outside vendor.
Tri-City Medical Center filed a WARN notice reporting 96 permanent layoffs, all of whom worked in its women's and newborn services department.
Later in the year, low volumes led Tri-City to conduct a subsequent round of layoffs throughout the organization. The number of affected employees was not disclosed, though it includes management and executive roles.
Trinity Health Mid-Atlantic eliminated less than 40 positions, or 0.5% of its roughly 7,000-person team.
Trinity Health's St. Joseph's Health, based in Syracuse, is terminating 71 employees in October as it shuts down its in-home care service, St. Joseph's Health at Home.
Tufts Medicine laid off 70 “primarily administrative” staff and eliminated another 170 unfilled positions. The system employs roughly 13,000 people.
Additionally, plans to outsource lab operations and assets to Labcorp will affect 242 of the system's current employees, though Tufts reportedly plans for the majority to land at similar jobs with Labcorp.
UNC Health disclosed in a regulatory notice it would be laying off 246 employees on Sept. 30. The reduction is related to the closure of a behavioral health facility.
University of Michigan Health announced a regional restructuring that cut four executives that had been working at recently acquired Sparrow Health. The organization said it had no plans for other cuts as of late August.
Valley Health has eliminated almost 100 positions since the beginning of the year through consolidation, attrition and elimination, citing nearly $100 million in losses since the beginning of the pandemic. These include 31 administrative employees released by the six-hospital system in early March.
Valley Health System’s conversion of the 282-bed Desert Springs Hospital Medical Center to a free-standing emergency department hit 970 of its employees. The system is owned by Universal Health Services.
Vibra Hospital of Western Massachusetts, a long-term-acute care facility owned by Vibra Healthcare, is shutting down and plans to lay off all 87 employees by Aug. 15.
Virginia Mason Franciscan Health laid off between 300 and 400 employees due to heavy financial losses. The cuts represent less than 2% of its total 19,000-person workforce and were primarily among non-patient-facing roles. Affected employees were eligible for “career transition assistance” alongside severance and extended benefits. The 10-hospital organization said it is focusing any investments and savings on patients and front-line caregivers.