COLUMBIA, S.C. — Officials at Prisma Health announced today that the hospital system will be eliminating 327 positions from a workforce of 32,000.
Prisma Health president and CEO Mark O'Halla said, “The health-care environment in which we operate is becoming increasingly challenging for a variety of reasons, including lower reimbursements and increasing numbers of patients who are underinsured or uninsured.”
“When we formed Prisma Health 26 months ago, we began integrating and consolidating functions to gain the benefits of scale and to remove costs from the organization. We have already eliminated duplicative executive management positions, restructured leadership, and gained significant cost savings in supplies, technology and other areas. We are taking steps to ensure that everything we are doing – both clinical and non-clinical – is delivering quality and value. As part of this ongoing work, we have identified a number of additional expense-reduction strategies, many of which impact our workforce. These are difficult decisions, but we need to make them now so we can provide the quality care our patients deserve in a financially sustainable manner that positions us for future growth opportunities.”
The people in the 327 affected positions will be notified beginning Jan. 16 that their positions are being eliminated.
Since October 1, management has already eliminated 200 positions through attrition, vacancies and consolidation, for a total of 527 positions.
Areas affected span the organization, including administrative, corporate and clinical areas across all campuses.
Prisma Health has said they are providing the affected team members with severance pay and outplacement services. Affected staff also will have the opportunity to apply for open positions across the organization.
Additional changes to select services include Prisma Health Greenville Memorial Hospital’s 15-bed Subacute Unit, which will be phased out in March, and the Children’s Residential Program in Greenville, which will be phased out in April. Patient populations treated in these programs have a number of other local options, and Prisma Health is taking the steps necessary to ensure that there is minimal disruption to patient care during this transition.
