Bristol Hospital Cuts 43 Positions, Citing Financial Constraints

Bristol Hospital announced Friday that it has terminated 37 employees and cut six vacant positions, citing financial constraints.

Eighteen of the cuts occurred over the past eight weeks and 19 more took effect Friday. Six vacant positions will also be scrapped, bringing the total number of affected positions to 43, according to a statement released by the hospital. This represents 5 percent of the hospital's workforce.

“There will be, and has been, no impact to the safety and quality of the care provided at the bedside or to the support staff that ensures the patient/visitor experience is nothing short of extraordinary,” hospital president and CEO Kurt Barwis said in a statement Friday.

According to the hospital, the workforce reduction will save the facility $3.6 million annually. Barwis said the hospital lost more than $923,000 during the eight months ending May 31 and started the fiscal year with a $3 million reduction in Medicare payments and a $2 million reduction in Medicaid payments. He wrote that further Medicare and Medicaid cuts will take effect later this year.

“We are one of the lowest cost hospitals in Connecticut with some of the highest quality and safety outcomes. We cannot cut our way to financial viability given our cost position and the severity of these cuts. It remains critical that we all continue advocacy efforts. We must, and we will, continue to grow and improve the services that we provide to the communities that we serve,” Barwis said.

Barwis added that the hospital community is “experiencing great personal and difficult loss” in light of the cuts.

“Tomorrow, as difficult as it truly is, we must dig down deep and find our way back to what has been the key to our success, our culture of family,” he stated.
 

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