Wednesday, June 17, 2015

Mercy to eliminate 300 to 350 jobs

What effect this will have on Mercy Hospital in Joplin and Mercy McCune-Brooks in Carthage is uncertain, but Mercy is eliminating 300 to 350 jobs across four states, most of which will be "leadership roles," according to the news release, which is printed below:

Mercy is committed to keeping our ministry strong and vital, both for our co-workers and our communities. Over the past decade, while we have made good progress in adapting to a constantly shifting health care landscape, the challenges we face require us to move faster than ever in keeping pace with change and meeting the evolving needs of our communities.Financially, Mercy faces increasing challenges to our reimbursement structure as we adjust to reductions mandated by the Affordable Care Act and other budget cuts, as well as the lack of Medicaid expansion in most of our states. Clinically and culturally, there continue to be opportunities to further standardize care and operational practices, in order to support the highest levels of quality and safety, as well as minimize the cost of variation.

In light of all of these factors, Mercy is in the process of simplifying our organizational structure and realigning our workforce in order to gain efficiencies and reduce costs. Exceptional patient care, quality and safety will continue to be our priority. These organizational changes will include the elimination of between 300 and 350 positions across four states, the majority of which are leadership roles. Affected individuals will be notified next week.

We recognize the impact of these changes on our co-workers and their families, and our transition plan will reflect our commitment to dignity and compassion. Mercy’s total workforce numbers nearly 40,000, including approximately 2,500 leadership positions.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I never want to see people get laid off, especially cause of Obama care. However, I frequently in and out of the clinic at Mercy and not exactly sure the need to have a person stationed in front of every office just to answer questions and such? Numerous time I have seen them there when the Dr is not even in the office and they are playing with their phones. Might be time to do some transferring of jobs....

Anonymous said...

Yet some departments are short staffed. Trust me.

Anonymous said...

Sisters WITHOUT Mercy!!

Anonymous said...

I believe they are saying some of it because of not expanding medicaid, which isn't the new health care implemented by the Obama Administration, but something else entirely different. So don't go blaming what you call "Obama Care" for it.

Anonymous said...

In the Joplin area, Mercy has NO contracts. No Blue Cross, United HealthCare, anything. If you have insurance with these companies you can't go to Mercy. I would rather go there than that hellhole Freeman. I just avoid medical care because the Joplin area is terrible for decent healthcare, no decent docs,and the few that are ok aren't taking new patients. I am still fairly young, so it isn't an issue yet. But when I need healthcare, then what? Oh, btw. I am an RN so I am well aware of what the Joplin healthcare scene is like. It's a joke.

Anonymous said...

3:16 PM: Actually, expanding Medicaid is part of Obamacare, and since it did an awful job with the individual healthcare market, in the states that accepted the Medicaid deal that has become the biggest "success" of it.

But many states refused the deal, since it's only a good one in the short term, in the long term they are left holding the bag, that is, the subsidies from the federal government don't last for very long. Missouri is one of those, we have enough politicians and voting citizens that can see beyond the short term.