Doctors Hospital has made the decision to reduce its full-time staffing level by 43 employees, citing diminished patient activity and revealing a 16.4 percent year-on-year decline in its first quarter results.
A statement released by the hospital explained that the reduction in staff is part of proactive measures to ensure the company’s financial position remains resilient, especially having not furloughed or terminated any of its 535 staff during the three months of economic shutdown caused by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Doctors Hospital Chief Executive Officer Charles Sealy said in the statement that the decision was made after much contemplation, as executives and managers already took a voluntary reduction in salaries by as much as 25 percent.
“This is not a decision that we make lightly, nor is it one that we make without tremendous consideration and thought,” said Sealy.
“Throughout the course of the pandemic, Doctors Hospital has considered multiple options to mitigate the need for such an action.
“We are keenly sensitive to the impact that this decision to release 43 associates will now have on all of our workforce. As a result, our human resource team has organized a menu of services, support and opportunities for all affected.”
The statement said all affected employees will have their health insurance continued through September in addition to their severance payment.
According to the hospital’s Chief Financial Officer Dennis Deveaux, COVID-19 has placed the hospital in a difficult fiscal position.
“We must ensure the hospital retains its existing financial strength and is poised to make future investments necessary to expand service lines and improve patient care,” said Deveaux.
“It is therefore clear that we must be proactive and align our cost structure to match patient levels.”
The company announced last month that some of the executives and managers’ salaries were diverted to pay hero bonuses for frontline workers treating COVID-19 patients.
Sealy explained that new strategies will be rolled out in the company’s next quarter to enhance revenue.
He added that Doctors Hospital will be providing same-day PCR testing for COVID-19.
“In our effort to maintain a safe hospital environment, we have recently implemented advanced capacity for COVID-19 PCR testing,” Sealy noted. “Anticipating the pressure on businesses to assure a safe environment for their clients and employees, Doctors Hospital’s provision of COVID-19 PCR testing and same-day results will have special value since the threat of COVID-19 is likely with us for a while.”
The company noted it still expects to carry out dividend payments this month.
The post Doctors Hospital reduces staff by 43 appeared first on The Nassau Guardian.
source https://thenassauguardian.com/2020/07/06/doctors-hospital-reduces-staff-by-43/
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