Mass General Brigham begins second round of large-scale layoffs

Boston Globe

10-03-2025

'This decision was reached by clinical, academic and administrative leaders from across our system after thoughtfully considering the current healthcare landscape and our poor financial performance over the past several years,' Klibanski said. 'As we look to the future, we will continue to build a culture of resource stewardship and financial sustainability that enables us to withstand the unrelenting pressures facing healthcare systems everywhere and allows us to continue with critical planned and future investments to support our patients, our care teams and our mission.'
She added that the organization would treat all employees with dignity and respect: 'We all feel a sense of loss when valued colleagues depart.' A spokesperson added that all laid-off workers would receive benefits coverage and market-competitive severance packages.
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The cuts in workforce have added to the uncertainty that many employees
have voiced in recent weeks.
'Who is going to do that work? Are you going to dump it on people already buckling under?' said Dr. Peter Grinspoon, a primary care physician at Massachusetts General Hospital. 'Any organization has to be mindful of who they are employing and is it efficient and worthwhile. But you can't just lay off 1,200 people. These people were all doing something … They were helping with the team-based medicine we all need to practice to make it doable.'
With such a sprawling organization including 26 hospitals and other entities spread across 400 locations, it is difficult to assess where layoffs were targeted, or even how many people it will ultimately affect. The organization has repeatedly declined to specify final numbers. Given how disperse the layoffs have been and occurring in multiple waves, the reductions have not
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However sources suggest approximately 1,500 positions will ultimately be affected, out of 82,000 employees. Similarly, the expense reduction is looking to save approximately 2 percent of MGB's salary and benefits costs.
Executives have previously said the reductions would be primarily focused on administrative and management levels, and would not affect front-line clinical workers or staff that supportpatient-facing care. Two doctors who help oversee the care of patients involved in clinical trials, though, said
'You just don't know who is going to be laid off,' Grinspoon said. 'It hurts morale to have this Damocles [sword] hanging over your head.'
Frustrations go far beyond the disruptions and uncertainty of the layoffs. Many physicians are burned out, so much so that nearly 300 of MGB's primary care physicians in November signed documents to unionize. Frustrations range from the massive demands placed on primary care physicians
'
time to the increasing 'corporatization' of medicine, in which front
-
line physicians feel they have less of a voice.
The layoffs have added to the overall chaos, Grinspoon said. Consolidation is stepping on toes, as longtime department heads have had to fight for the job they've held for decades. Other employees don't have faith that integration will make things better because for the last several years, things have gotten progressively harder. Doctors make less but are expected to care for more patients, and there is far more work to do for each patient.
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'No one has faith in leadership,' Grinspoon said, adding: 'You can't do (integration) if most of your staff don't trust or believe in you in the first place.'
Leadership has pressed that the integration is necessary to improve patient care and streamline operations across its 12 hospitals. A spokesperson added Monday that the reductions would enhance efficiency, reduce costs, and maximize support for frontline clinicians.
'This decision is necessary despite years of diligently promoting a culture of responsible resource stewardship and developing initiatives that generate diversified sources of revenue,' said Jennifer Street, a spokesperson for Mass General Brigham.
Consolidation efforts have been underway for years, setting out a transformation of what had been a collection of often-competitive hospitals to one of a unified system. The effort began in 2019, with a rebranding from what used to be Partners HealthCare to Mass General Brigham. Since, leadership has slowly been rethinking jobs and eliminating roles through attrition.
The signs of financial challenges have started to appear in reported financials. Though the organization has posted positive operating margins in
The system's investment portfolio helped propel the bottom line to $281.7 million in net margin, a figure that experts have pointed to as a marker of resiliency. But earnings on that money are largely either restricted by donors to certain uses or earmarked to capital projects, executives have previously said.
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Jessica Bartlett can be reached at