Here’s what documents tell us about the 59 positions eliminated at Lancaster General Health this week, as well as what we know about why LG Health’s parent health system made about 300 cuts across its facilities in southeastern Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
The 49,000-employee University of Pennsylvania Health System said in a statement that “more than” 100 of the eliminated positions were vacant or held by employees who had announced plans to retire. The 59 positions listed in the documents obtained by LNP | LancasterOnline make up about .6% of the 9,700-plus workforce at LG Health, Lancaster County’s largest employer, which has been part of Penn Medicine for about nine years.
Several requests for comment about the documents made to LG Health and University of Pennsylvania Health System public relations personnel received no response.
Positions eliminated
– Government affairs, one: vice president institutional affairs
– Executive office, two: vice president of operational financial analysis, chief growth officer
– Administration, two: director operations, regional medical director
– Family and maternity medicine, one: nurse practitioner
– Pulmonary – clinical, three: clinical supervisors – pulmonary
– Neuroscience administration, one: manager acute neuroscience services
– Orthopedic administration, one: supervisor disease management program
– Diabetes and endocrinology, one: practice manager
– Oncology research, one: administrative director of cancer research and Ann B. Barshinger Cancer Institute clinical research unit
– Pediatric program, one: administrative assistant
– Family medicine, five: practice manager
– Penn Medicine Home Health LGH administration, two: manager central intake, supervisor customer service and scheduling
– Holistic therapy, two: supervisor administrative support services, manager holistic therapy
– Surgical services – administration management, one: director perioperative services support services regulatory
– Infection control, one: Infection preventionist RN
– Patient safety, two: patient safety specialists
– Quality improvement, five: quality specialist, two patient representatives, patient safety specialist – perinatal, quality specialist
– Behavioral Health administration, one: business manager – behavioral health
– Behavioral health psychiatry, one: practice manager
– Innovation center, six: executive director innovation, innovation operations manager, project coordinator – innovation, executive assistant, two senior design strategists
– Volunteers, one: volunteer coordinator
– General accounting, one: director of cost accounting and labor activity
– Balance sheet posting – coding services, one: director coding
– Community health services, one: manager community health and wellness
– Intercompany – community care collaborative to Lancaster General, two: supervisor patient education and engagement, manager care transformation and disease management
– Medical education, one: manager continuing medical education and professional development
– Corporate wellness, three: creative specialist, wellness event coordinator, employee well-being coordinator
– Food service, four: supervisor cafeteria, supervisor food service, two supervisors patient service
– Inpatient clinical nutrition, one: manager diabetes and clinical nutrition programs
– Convenience pharmacy, one: supervisor pharmacy – outpatient
– Pharmacy administration, one: medication safety officer
– General stores, one: supervisor general stores
– Patient care equipment services, one: supervisor general stores
Why did this happen?
University of Pennsylvania Health System Chief Operating Officer Michelle Volpe discussed the rationale behind the cuts in an interview with the Philadelphia Inquirer, saying the health system is aiming to make operations more cost-efficient and streamlined amid decreased profitability throughout the healthcare sector, adding that it would not affect patient care.
Volpe said the cuts were not in reaction to the federal government pausing $175 million in funding to the health system’s owner, the University of Pennsylvania.
Instead, she said, the management “looked at the differences in how our hospitals provided the same service” to identify the best way of doing things and used that as a model across the entire system.”
The Inquirer reported that the cuts are expected to generate annual savings of up to $45 million for the health system, which had an operating profit of $248 million last year.
Volpe said the network plans to reinvest that money in recruiting physicians and employees to expand patient services and to invest in information systems.
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