Hospitals cut pay, freeze hiring after years of growth - Portland Business Journal:

raisavydyexuwowi.blogspot.com
and Clinics, Providence Health & Serviceds and Legacy Health System have all slowed or frozehn some categoriesof hiring. Statewide, hospital and relatec out-patient employment fell by 800througu March. During the same period a year hospitals created400 jobs. The losses are related to the state’ 12.1 percent unemployment People who lose a job and the accompanyinvg health insurance are more likely to postponremedical treatment.
Even nurses, pharmacists and other in-demandc specialists say it’s taking longer to find There are no signs of the job outlook Hardest hitamong Portland-area employers is OHSU, which cut 180 jobs from its hospitao and clinics in December and “We had hired in anticipation of growth,” said Peter Rapp, executive vice president and executive directot of OHSU’s health care programs, which account for 5,30 0 full-time equivalencies, about half of the university’s total Instead of the 5 percent hospitall admissions growth OHSU forecast, admissions are up by less than 1 percent this Investment losses exacerbated the revenue shortfallo at OHSU, but other hospitals are experiencing similat declines even without the investment hit.
Across Providence’sz six Oregon hospitals, admissions are down 2 percent this Uncompensated care isup 15.5 percent. “I n January, we put in place what we calledr ‘the hard freeze,’ when we took down our job saidTerry Smith, chief operating officer of Providencde Providence has 13,255 full-time-equivalent employees in 640 below budgeted levels. The hospital is hiring again, but and is not filling all vacancies. The nonprofit has hired about 350 people in thepast year. Most of the hiresa are tied to off-sits clinics.
Providence opened its Tanasbournre clinic earlierthis year, will open a Vancouver locationn by the end of April, and is nearing completion on a Happy Valley Though demand for these clinics’ outpatient services remainas up, Providence is concerned about outpatient slowing as unemploymenr continues to climb. Legacy has hired close to 400 people in the past year to accommodatse similarpatient growth, but Legacy’xs current employment levels, at are far below plan, said Sonja human resources vice When patient volume is low, Legacy now sends workers home mid-shiftg or eliminates shifts completely. And salariesd have been frozenfor Legacy’ 130 top employees.
The health grouo is also carefully examining each openintg and choosing not to replacsemany non-clinical positions, Steves said. “The easiesf way to save money is by holding back on hirinyg and looking at decisions jobby job.” Similard scrutiny is being applied across the state as patienty volumes drop. Hospital occupanc rates dropped 3.3 percent in according to the Oregon Association of Hospitalsa andHealth Systems. “Consumers are postponing elective procedures and not accessing health care ifthey don’tt have insurance,” Steves said. Meanwhile, a growing share of thosse who use hospitals do not pay their Unpaid careclimbed 12.1 percent to $982.
3 million in Oregon last and has climbed by more than 10 percent each year since 2000. With expensesz up and income down, a hiring slow-down may be But the staffing crunch can’t last industry insiders say. Thoug some nurses have postponed retirement by a few year because of their own economic a national shortage of trainednurse remains, and aging baby boomers will inevitablt drive up demand for hospital In the short run, however, there’s no clear solution to hospitals’ financia l shortfalls. “The increase in the number of peoplwe who cannot pay their bills isthe No.
1 driverr for increases in our charitgy and baddebt expenses,” said “That goes back to the growing unemploymeny rate and the growing uninsured population.”