It Begins: Waterbury Hospital Announces Layoff Plan.

The state government-induced collapse of the Tenet Healthcare proposal to buy Waterbury Hospital is beginning to have consequences for the troubled hospital’s employees. The head of the hospital, Darlene Stromstad, announced Thursday the implantation of a four-part plan to cope with deteriorating finances at the 126 year old institution.

Here’s the plan:

• Reducing the workforce through eliminating open positions, eliminating some full- and part-time positions, and reducing hours. One-third of these jobs come from managerial staff, one-third come from union employees and one-third are non-union employees. It is estimated that about100 people will be impacted from both clinical and non-clinical departments; the total impact will not be known until the labor union “bumping process” is completed.
• Eliminating and postponing all non-patient care initiatives.
• Closing services such as community blood draw stations, consolidating some services and physician practices, and making cutbacks in the location and hours of service.
• Changing the way the hospital operates, including potential outsourcing and collaborative opportunities.

Here’s the reason for the plan:

About 70% of Waterbury Hospital’s payer mix comes from government programs (Medicare and Medicaid), which do not cover the full cost of care for patients. This, along with continued cutbacks in government reimbursement and other financial implications of reform, has led to significant financial pressure for Waterbury Hospital. In FY2015, the hospital will be reimbursed $9.77 million less for delivering essentially the same services as it did the year before.

This may be a glimpse of the unhappy future of healthcare in Connecticut.