The Cook County Health and Hospitals System today announced it would eliminate more than 1,000 positions between the end of November and the beginning of January. The cuts will save an estimated $60 million, according to a press release released by CCHHS.
Employees began receiving layoff notices today. The cuts include 700 vacant positions and 335 filled positions, mostly in support roles, including food service and maintenance.
Health system leaders said last month they had identified nearly 500 positions that could be eliminated, and included those savings in its 2010 budget proposal. Its 2009 budget included provisions for 900 layoffs, while adding 450 new medical staff jobs.
“When the Cook County Board of Commissioners established the independent health system, they required us to undergo a performance improvement assessment study,” CCHHS CEO William Foley said in a statement. “We have completed that study and found that there were some areas that needed adjustments in staffing.
“This is a rebalancing effort to make sure that we have the right amount of people in the right place at the right time to make sure our patients are getting the quality care they deserve.”
The cuts are scheduled at all CCHHS locations. Medical staff positions are among those being cuts, specifically at facilities where staffing exceeds patient demand, such as OB/GYN services at Provident Hospital, where there is on average just one birth a day, and just one a shift at Stroger Hospital.
The health system has been working with Navigant Consulting to identify areas where it can improve. At a town hall meeting at Truman College last night, CCHHS board chairman Warren Batts said the health system is over-staffed, noting that at Stroger Hospital, the staff-to-patient ratio is about 9-to-1, a rate he says is one-third more than other health systems.
The health system board elected to let employees go after the holidays, and is assisting those laid off in finding new jobs.
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