Jackson Health System To Eliminate 240 Positions
MIAMI (CBSMiami) – In the first month of their new fiscal year, Jackson Health System came in nearly $10 million in the red. In order to stem the out flow of cash, Jackson has announced the elimination of 240 positions.
Just in time for the holidays, 170 employees will be receiving pink slips, according to CBS4 news partner The Miami Herald. The remaining jobs are unfilled positions which will be eliminated. The cuts represent about 2.5 percent of Jackson's workforce of nearly 11 thousand.
Last month, the county's public hospitals lost $9.6 million, or 50% more than in October 2010.
Chief Executive Carlos Migoya said the position eliminations were necessary because they were treating fewer patients and had to adhere to their projected balanced budget for 2012. Employees layoffs were are not the only tactic being employed to keep the budget balanced. Last week most employees were ordered to take two weeks of unpaid furlough time, four of those days were to be taken before the first of the year.
According to Chief Financial Officer Mark Knight, the furloughs will save them $11 million in December, to offset $12 million that will be given to employees who cash in their vacation days at the end of the year. Under Jackson policy, employees can forego vacation time and elect to be paid for that time.
In another cost cutting measure, the Jackson's board approved letting hospital management move forward with a plan to out-source the work of qualifying patients for Medicaid to Atlanta-based CEA. Currently, that work is done by both Jackson and CEA employees. By out-sourcing the work to CEA, Jackson could save nearly $2 million a year and terminate and additional 30 employees.
The president of the union which represents Jackson's nurses, Martha Baker, said she was shocked when she learned of the layoffs. She said she hadn't had been told in advance about the layoffs or about the elimination of the Medicaid intake specialists who are members of her union.
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