EAST LIVERPOOL - Due to Medicaid and Medicare issues, East Liverpool City Hospital has furloughed 17 administrative employees, according to CEO and President Kenneth Cochran.
Cochran confirmed Monday that with the hospital realizing deductions in Medicaid and Medicare reimbursements, the decision was made to cut personnel last week. He emphasized none of the positions are related to direct patient care.
Of those who lost their jobs, 11 were management/salaried; three were front line staff members (clerk-level); and three were through attrition, Cochran said.
The management/salaried employees were directors and supervisors, and Cochran said these were areas he felt were overstaffed for the hospital's current patient volume.
He said the cuts were made in areas in which there may have been four people doing a job that three people could handle, including the hospital communication director, who Cochran admitted did "a lot of work for me, which will cause me to work a little harder."
"It wasn't easy," he said of making the decision to furlough employees, confirming he considers these to be permanent layoffs.
Although the hospital volume grew by 9 percent in 2011, and Cochran expects that volume to increase by 10 percent this year, reimbursement changes have nonetheless resulted in the need to "work smarter."
Technology advances have also contributed to the need for cuts, he added.
"We have a finite amount of resources, and we wanted to focus on the greater good," Cochran said, emphasizing, "We were able to avoid cutting from the front line. We didn't cut any nurses."
None of the reductions in staff should affect patient care, Cochran stressed, adding the hospital has also made some "strategic moves" to increase revenue, and if it is able to maintain expenses, it should be able to operate at the current level, although he admitted, "We don't know what the government is going to do."
Cochran said, "Some people thought we needed to get better, and we are getting better," but made a request to community members to "manage your health care locally."
He said, "When you go out of town for health care, you're taking jobs. If you can't find someone locally to help you, call us call me and we'll find someone."
