Cincinnati Children’s Hospital planning cuts, freezing hiring, due to Medicaid cuts

CINCINNATI  — Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center is looking to cut $50 million in an effort to absorb losses from Ohio Medicaid cuts this year and next year.

The Cincinnati Enquirer reports that 2012 marks the first year in recent memory the hospital will not hire any new employees.

The facility, employing roughly 13,000, hired about 290 employees in 2011.

The newspaper reports the hospital expects to lose about $55 million in cuts to funds for Medicaid, which provides health care for low-income patients.

Hospital officials plan to cut $20 million from the facility’s $1.7 billion budget this year and $50 million by 2015.

The hospital does not plan layoffs.

Among cost-saving options being explored are pooling purchasing among various departments and targeting services to where and when they are needed.