MaineGeneral Health to lay off more than 100 workers to address budget shortfalls
MaineGeneral Health President and CEO Nathan Howell said Friday that in an effort to be transparent, and with continuing uncertainty related to Northern Light Inland Hospital's planned closure, MaineGeneral informed workers that about 100 people will be laid off in mid-April.
It is unclear exactly what positions will be cut in the upcoming layoffs. Asked what departments will be affected, Joy McKenna, MaineGeneral's director of marketing and communications, said officials are "still in the process of identifying those details."
McKenna later clarified that MaineGeneral plans to eliminate the equivalent of about 100 full-time positions from its workforce of about 5,000 people. The term "full-time equivalent" combines the hours worked by both full-time and part-time employees into a single, equivalent unit, meaning two half-time employees would comprise a single full-time equivalent position.
"A reduction in force is always among the very last actions we want to consider, as our employees are our greatest resources," Howell said in a statement. "However, we need to ensure that we are operating as efficiently and effectively as possible."
Northern Light Health announced earlier this month that Inland Hospital, located on Kennedy Memorial Drive in Waterville, would cease operations May 27, about 300 people would be laid off and the hospital would close June 11. Inland is the only inpatient hospital in Waterville.
MaineGeneral Health officials said last week they are working with Northern Light to learn the scope of changes that will occur as part of Inland's closure, including the number of staff and patients who will be affected and how MaineGeneral may be able to take on certain staff and help meet community needs. The Inland closure adds to a complicated, challenging financial situation at MaineGeneral, which is similar to what other hospitals in Maine are facing, officials say.
Howell said Friday that the current crisis in MaineCare funding compounds an already tenuous footing for MaineGeneral and other hospitals.
"Maine's nonprofit hospitals are challenged by declining reimbursement rates from payers — reimbursement rates are not covering the actual cost of care," he said. "Additionally, we are experiencing excessive denials, especially from Medicare Advantage plans. The cost of doing business is increasing, which is not unique to health care. These are just some of the multiple challenges that we have been facing."
"The impact of the partial MaineCare payments that started March 12 (due to failure to pass the supplemental budget), is a financial hit to the health system of approximately $600,000 per week. We need to find a way to mitigate those losses as quickly as possible."
Howell said MaineGeneral has been transparent with its nearly 5,000 employees that budget shortfalls must be addressed now and into the next fiscal year, starting July 1. Additional actions planned to help mitigate losses, he said, include putting a hold on employee travel other than what is needed for the services and business of the health system, with no out-of-state travel. MaineGeneral Health is also putting a hold on filling open positions that are not necessary for the provision of health care services; reviewing the remaining budget for the fiscal year and putting a freeze on spending where possible; and putting a hold on providing sponsorship dollars.
"We believe doing this difficult work now will set us up for a more financially sustainable future, as we want to remain independent and available to meet the health care needs of our community now and into the future," Howell said.
MaineGeneral has many locations throughout central Maine, including the inpatient hospital MaineGeneral Medical Center and the Harold Alfond Center for Cancer Care, located on the same campus in Augusta, and health care offices and facilities in Gardiner, Hallowell, Belgrade, Winthrop and Fairfield. Thayer Center for Health, Elmwood Primary Care and other offices and practices are located in Waterville.
Contacted Friday, Jessica Picard, communications director for the Maine Department of Labor, said that due to confidentiality rules, the department can neither confirm nor deny whether a company has notified the DOL of layoffs. But DOL does post Worker Adjustment & Retraining Act, or WARN notices it receives. Such notices are required in certain circumstances, and the department reaches out to offer rapid response services for affected workers.
The WARN Act is a federal law requiring employers to give advance notice to workers facing a plant closure or mass layoff. The advance notices gives workers and their families transition time to adjust to the prospective loss of employment, seek and find other jobs and, with help from the local workforce development areas, receive skill training or retraining to allow them to compete in the job market. WARN requires that a 60-day notice be given to employers with 100 or more full-time workers. Maine requires a 90-day notice for a covered establishment that is relocating or closing.
The department's Rapid Response team is working with Inland employees, as well as with human resources departments of companies that Inland contracted with, to help affected workers, Picard said.
"In general, any workers statewide who are impacted by a layoff should reach out to their local CareerCenter, which can help connect them to reemployment services, training, and other information," Picard said in an email.
The CareerCenter may be reached by email at MaineDOL.CareerCenter@maine.gov, by phone at 207-623-7981, or through the LiveChat feature at www.myworksourcemaine.gov.
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