Mercy health system to lay off 38 employees, cut hours of 20 others in reorganization

10/4/2012
BY KRIS TURNER
BLADE BUSINESS WRITER

Mercy is laying off 38 employees and will reduce the hours of 20 others as the health system reorganizes its operations.

The affected employees were notified this week that they would lose their jobs or work fewer hours. Mercy says the move is part of its plan to reorganize its health-care network under the Affordable Care Act.

Some of the laid-off employees will be placed into new positions, although Megan Manahan, Mercy's regional vice president of marketing and communications, did not know how many would be offered jobs. Ms. Manahan also did not have a timetable for when they’d be let go.

The employees who are losing their jobs are in administrative support, inpatient therapy, and supply management. Those who are not offered jobs could be offered training through Mercy College, Ms. Manahan said.

Mercy said it has added more than 100 jobs in 2012 and plans to surpass that number in 2013. The layoffs are part of an overall plan to evaluate where Mercy can create jobs or eliminate staff. Ms. Manahan said it’s unclear whether more layoffs will occur in 2013.

“We’re living between two worlds: the world of traditional fee-for-service and caring for the sick to the world of managing populations, and wellness, and prevention, and pay for performance, as we say,” Ms. Manahan said. “Mercy is transitioning itself really from a system of mainly hospitals to a system of care.”

Mercy is under the umbrella of Catholic Health Partners.

The health system plans to ramp up operations at the Mercy Arrowhead Surgery Center in Maumee and is planning a $12.7 million emergency services and diagnostic center in Perrysburg. The center is to open next fall.

The Perrysburg and Maumee facilities will add about 40 jobs to the Mercy operation in the Toledo area, Ms. Manahan said.

Dr. Imran Andrabi, Mercy’s senior vice president and chief physician executive officer, said Mercy is implementing a comprehensive electronic filing system and focusing on preventive care to trim costs and come in line with regulations under the Affordable Care Act.

Mercy said it is working to ensure its patients live healthier lifestyles that will ward off health issues later in life. Fitness programs are one example of a way the health-care organization said it is trying to accomplish that.

Healthier patients and up-to-date records will help Mercy provide better care, Dr. Andrabi said. They also could help reduce the number of readmissions to Mercy’s hospitals.

Contact Kris Turner at:

kturner@theblade.com or

419-724-6103.