VCU Health System to lay off about 30 people
The VCU Health System will lay off about 30 people -- far fewer than the 300 earlier predicted who might lose jobs in a worst-case scenario.
"We've been defensively successful in reducing that number down to fewer than 30 positions that will actually be affected by layoffs," said John Duval, chief executive officer for MCV Hospitals,
"If you are one of those individuals, it's hardly good news. But it's certainly a testimony to the staff who have worked hard to reduce our costs to get it down to that number," Duval said.
The VCU Health System has about 8,000 fulland part-time employees and was the area's largest private employer last year.
Duval said the employees losing their jobs were told Thursday. Their positions are eliminated as of April 18. They will receive a severance package.
Duval said that since the possible layoffs were announced in January, employees have submitted more than 500 suggestions for reducing expenses.
"While not all of those are actionable, we have assigned every one to a responsible executive," Duval said. "More than 80 actions have been taken by senior leadership to reduce our operating costs."
Some of the cost-saving measures include:
- eliminating some external consulting contracts;
- renegotiating long-term leases;
- changing eligibility for some tuition-reimbursement policies; and
- adjusting salaries of workers in the supplemental staffing pool, mainly nurses, to bring pay in line with the local job market.
"There were a couple of our pay practices where we paid above market. What we have done is adjusted those," Duval said.
Health care has been regarded as a field that can withstand economic downturns better than other industries.
"It's recession proof to a point," said Karen Cameron, CEO of the Central Virginia Health Planning Agency. "People will still get sick. For emergency-type things, they are going to show up at the hospital."
But with so many people losing jobs and health insurance, people may be delaying medical care, Cameron said.
Duval said no across-the-board salary reductions or furloughs are planned. No changes in retirement benefits were made, and employees will still be eligible for merit raises, though on a reduced scale.
Contact Tammie Smith at (804) 649-6572 or
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Reader Reactions
girldevl, you miss the point here. If he could salvage 270 jobs, certainly he could save those 30 (Luckily you don’t seem to be one of those 30). Because ratio of 8000 versus 30 is very small. Even if he could cut 0.5 % (50 cents per every 100 dollars!) salary across the board, those unfortunate people would have saved their jobs. In todays economy these 30 people don’t need our hollow sympathies (which they can’t deposit in their bank accounts), they need money and it was possible, if this CEO was little smart. But like I said earlier, possible bigger layoffs are on horizon since MCV’s financial situation may get worse. If you are smart, start sending out your resume now before it hits you. And also know that these executives always know what is coming so they always secure thier future first.
Supplemental Staffing took a big hit in the restructuring to save costs. These nurses are the most flexible and versatile group that the facility employs. The floors and units DEPEND on them. There are units that will consistently function short handed without them. At this point many of these nurses have chosen to go elsewhere, and many more feel no loyalty to VCUHS. The salaries of the Per Diem pool have taken a $20000/year cut for those who worked full time hours. It is a shame that this group of nurses was targeted to cut costs. There were no across the board salary cuts, which would have landed more cash in the health systems’ pockets. Upper management should realize what an asset it has in these multi-talented nurses who have now gone back YEARS in their salary packages. Shame on you.
Best wishes to those laid off, those remaining in Supplemental, and those who have chosen to move on.
I have to hand it to the many employees who made suggestions to reduce waste and spending, so as to use money wisely. Maybe if more businesses and govt localities did that, we would not be seeing mass layoffs or at least not as many, i. e. Chesterfield county.
But sometimes management is too proud to listen to employees and their suggestions and feel their way is the only right way. We all need to be good stewards of our resources for the benefit of everyone.
xyc…you obviously have no idea how this works. basically we were told in Jan that in order for the company to make budget for FY10, the company would have to obtain X amount of dollars in revenue which equalled approx 300 jobs. Over the past 2 months, employees and managers of all departments in order to find money and make money (by taking action to save revenue ie supplies ordered) At the end of it, all but a fraction of that required revenue was found so instead of 300 people getting the boot, 30 did. Mr.Duvall didnt just wake up one day and decide to lay off people simply because he felt like he should.
MCV receives all major trauma victims, our ER is the primary care center for the majority of uninsured people in Richmond and with the loss of jobs in the economy, a huge number of patients are under a government program…which pays jack! We AREN’T bringing in the money needed that is required for the services we provide.
Best wishes to those 30 people laid off.
I have been a patient of VCUMC several times and yes, an insurance-paying patient and received the BEST care there than anywhere else—for profit or not for profit, hands down.
I, too, had the mentality that I wouldn’t be caught dead (horrible pun!) going there, but believe me, it’s the best medical care available, but after a heart cath, my tune changed. I have had a heart cath, cutting edge heart procedure (one of the first there), and surgery, and I was treated with the utmost care by knowledgeable RNs, MDs, and residents.
I was the daughter of a VCUMC patient who had superb oncology and nephrology care and who was treated with dignity as an inpatient.
All your fancy hospitals in the suburbs are for show as the employees don’t give a hoot about the patient. All they care about is pristine lawns, flowing fountains, extravagant interior designs costing millions, and much duplication of services.
Removing 30 out of 8ooo? It is a joke. Someone tell me how much % of salary money are saved? 30 X 100/8000 = 0.375%.(Actual number would be somewhere in this range, since everybody don’t make same amount of money. But the point is, it is a drop in a bucket) In my opinion, any CEO should resign and let some one more efficient to run the organisation, if his budget is that shaky (Example is Rick Wagoner of GM). These 30 people should not be laid off. The guy is just trying to show he is doing something. Probably he should consider to cut his pay in half, which in my opinion he doesn’t deserve. Or there may be bigger layoffs in near future, and he just sending out the signal to employees, BE READY!!! Whatever the case may be, MCV deserves better.
City…you make excellent point. 30 years ago MCV was that hospital you didn’t want to go to. However, now a days, it is nothing like it was. Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center is one of the country’s leading academic medical centers offering state-of-the-art care in more than 200 specialty areas. Consisting of the VCU Health System and the five health sciences schools of VCU, as well as Massey Cancer Center, it stands alone as the most comprehensive academic medical center in Central Virginia. Also, VCUHS is the only Level 1 Trauma center in Central VA.
Well said girldevl. The VCU Health System (MCV) faces challenges other area hospitals do not because it must accept the vast majority of uninsured patients, many of whom clog up the ER by using it for as a primary care physicians office. MCV gets bad rap as that “hospital in the city that you should only go to if you are really sick.“ But I’d ask this - do you want a nice parking lot and manicured lawns with a fountain or the best healthcare professionals with the latest cutting edge (no pun intended) knowledge and equipment? Give me MCV any day whether it’s a routine procedure or a life-threatening illness. I wish each employee who was laid off the best.
I am an employee at VUHS and all I can say is that the past few months have been overly stressful on all employees here. We were notified in January of the lay offs and were told there would be 295 people to go. We have spent the past 2 months working with management in order to save money, make money and defend our jobs. I thankfully was not affected during this lay off but my prayers are with those that were.
Hopefully more people with commercial insurance will chose to use VCUHS for their health needs. We are really suffering since we receive the vast majority of uninsured patients as well as people using government programs such as medicare and medicaid.
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