BRATTLEBORO-Brattleboro Memorial Hospital has cut six administrative posts as it seeks $4 million in reductions and new revenue to balance its $119 million annual budget.
"Unfortunately, creating financial stability at times requires a reduction in force," hospital President Christopher Dougherty said in a June 12 interview.
The day before, the hospital let go of its director of radiology, senior director of revenue cycle, data scientist, outpatient specialty practice manager and two executive assistants.
"They're all administrative positions," Dougherty said of the layoffs at one of Brattleboro's three largest employers. "None of these are patient-facing positions."
The hospital announced last month it was exploring 40 "strategies" to save or earn money by the end of its fiscal year Sept. 30. At the time, it listed options ranging from capitalizing on services such as its new MRI machine to continuing a hiring freeze that began April 1, to, at last resort, laying off some of its 520 staffers.
"We believe that we have some tremendous opportunities in enhancing our financial standing," Dougherty said, without elaborating.
But the hospital president couldn't rule out more staff cuts.
"Our hopes are that we can avoid these reductions in force, but we certainly can't guarantee that," he said.
BMH is relatively small among Vermont's 14 community hospitals - it ranks eighth in the state for net patient revenue. Like the other hospitals, it is reliant on government reimbursement for Medicaid patients with limited incomes and Medicare patients age 65 or older. Both programs offer lower reimbursements than commercial insurance.
Last fall, the hospital asked the state's Green Mountain Care Board, a key health system regulator, for a 4.7% increase in what it charges patients with commercial insurance. But the board instead capped any rise to no more than 3.4%, noting Brattleboro instead should reduce "system inefficiencies."
"We did see an opportunity with some administrative positions to get our staffing in alignment with national benchmarks," Dougherty said Thursday. "Six probably doesn't sound like a lot, but they are six members of our community."
BMH so far is the only Vermont hospital to announce staff cuts this year, but it isn't alone in wrestling with what the Green Mountain Care Board has called "a health care affordability crisis."
"We're committed to doing everything possible to create a sustainable future for the hospital," Dougherty said. "I do think there's hope that we are making progress in addressing our financial challenges, and we do have some opportunities to continue to accelerate that, short of reductions in force."
This story was republished with permission from VTDigger, which offers its reporting at no cost to local news organizations through its Community News Sharing Project. To support this work, please visit vtdigger.org/donate.
This News item by Kevin O'Connor originally appeared in VTDigger and was republished in The Commons with permission.