LORAIN – Thirty-five employees of Community Health Partners were laid off Wednesday, and another 51 had their hours reduced in an effort by the hospital system to stave off financial problems.

Ten of the laid-off workers are registered nurses, while the rest comprise clinical and non-clinical staff, as well as a few management and non-management staff, said Ed Oley, president and CEO of Community Health Partners, which operates a range of health care facilities in Lorain County, including Community Regional Medical Center in Lorain and Allen Community Hospital in Oberlin.

The cuts, which amount to about 1.6 percent of the hospital system`s 2,100 employees, are expected to save the hospital system $2.1 million for the remainder of this year and $3.1 million for a full year.

“What we`ve tried in those areas, at the end of the day, is right-sizing the staff to meet the volume levels,” Oley said. “Right now our finances are at break even. These changes will make for profitable earnings for 2009.”

Oley said a drop in patients with health insurance as a result of the area`s job losses has led to a reduction in medical procedures and doctors` visits as well as surgical procedures – particularly elective surgery. He said that given the state of the economy, he didn`t anticipate the situation improving this year.

“We wanted to make the changes proactively and not get in a situation where we`re losing a lot of money and then try to right the ship,” he said.

Most of the laid-off workers will receive some kind of severance package as spelled out in their union contract. In addition to the cuts, full-time employees are being asked to voluntarily reduce their work week to 36 hours if the hospital can accommodate it. The 36 hours would still qualify them for full-time benefits, according to Jennifer Kennedy, hospital spokeswoman.

In addition to the 10 nurses, three management positions were eliminated. As a result, various departments were restructured to operate without the management layer that was cut.

The cuts were spread through the hospital system and included its various physicians` offices as well as its hospitals in Oberlin and Lorain and other health care entities. No doctors were cut. Kennedy said laid-off workers are being encouraged to apply for other jobs with the Catholic health care system, and they could be recalled if a vacancy occurs.

Generally, the hospital system has about a 12 percent annual employee turnover rate, Kennedy said.

Oley said the reductions won`t affect customer service, even the newly launched pledge at its emergency rooms that patients will see a doctor within 30 minutes of their arrival. He said the areas that were cut have had less work due to the economic decline.

“We don`t think this will affect customer service,” Oley said. “The cuts are in areas we saw where (customer) volumes weren`t high. We now have appropriate staffing for appropriate volumes.”

He and Kennedy both said that prior to the staffing cuts, hospital officials scrutinized the budget – its annual operating budget is more than $200 million – to find all the savings that could be had.

“We`ve spent the last month poring through our departments line item by line item to reduce as many discretionary costs as possible,” Oley said. “We reduced our discretionary costs by $2 million before we made the decision to restructure. This was the last thing we needed to do to make things happen.”

In addition, the hospital system`s sponsorships of various events will be cut by 90 percent, too. That doesn`t mean requests for funding won`t be honored, but each will be examined to determine if it fits the hospital system`s mission before any funds are awarded, Kennedy said.

“We`re looking at every request that comes in,” she said. “We`re evaluating them on how we can help, how it fits with our organization and how it helps the community and betters the health of the community.”

Oley said the cuts will position the system when and if it needs to seek capital funding for various endeavors. Businesses no longer can secure loans to build or buy costly equipment if they cannot show a profit, so CHP must be on sound financial footing, he said.

He wouldn`t elaborate as to whether the hospital system has any plans for new facilities or purchases.

“There are a number of economic relationships that we are evaluating right now, and it`s important we have the funding to do that,” he said.

Contact Alicia Castelli at 329-7144 or acastelli@chroniclet.com.

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