Prime Healthcare cutting 100 jobs across its Illinois facilities, months after acquiring hospitals from Ascension

Chicago Tribune

2 days ago

Prime Healthcare, which bought eight Illinois hospitals earlier this year, is eliminating more than 100 jobs, the hospital system confirmed Monday.
Prime made most of the reductions Friday, and will continue cutting other jobs through July.
'As we continue to offer and create opportunities, we are also evaluating alignment with best practices and support from our national and regional teams,' Prime said in a statement. 'Through this process, there is a small number of positions that are duplicated or not aligned with the care model and service line offerings – most of them not directly providing patient care – that will be consolidated.'
None of the affected jobs are union positions, according to Prime. Prime hired 13,000 workers from Ascension when it bought the hospitals from that health system, and has created nearly 1,000 new jobs since the acquisition. The job cuts represent less than 1% of the combined 14,000 employees, according to the statement.
'Importantly, these efforts will not affect the quality of care we deliver to the communities we serve and in fact will help expand best practices from across the nation,' Prime said in the statement. 'All decisions made at our Illinois facilities are guided by our mission to improve quality, strengthen care delivery, preserve access in underserved areas and ensure long-term sustainability.'
The California-based Prime bought the Illinois hospitals for more than $370 million in March. Six of the hospitals sold to Prime changed from being nonprofit hospitals to for-profit hospitals as part of the sale.
Hospitals that were sold include St. Mary's Hospital in Kankakee, Holy Family Medical Center in Des Plaines, Resurrection Medical Center in Chicago, St. Francis Hospital in Evanston, St. Joseph Medical Center in Joliet, St. Joseph Hospital in Elgin, Mercy Medical Center in Aurora and St. Mary of Nazareth Hospital in Chicago.
The job cuts are the latest in a string of changes Prime has made since closing the deal, drawing criticism from elected officials and a nurses' union.
Prime announced in April that it planned to suspend inpatient pediatric care at St. Joseph Medical Center in Joliet, saying at the time that the unit had been averaging less than one patient a day, while the need for other services such as advanced surgical, neurosurgical and spinal care had grown.
The Illinois Nurses Association condemned the move arguing it would hurt the community, which only has one hospital.
Also, Mercy Medical Center in Aurora lost its designation in April as a Level II trauma center. Prime also suspended obstetrical services at St. Mary's in Kankakee after the hospital's 'nearly sole obstetrics physician' retired, and because of low demand, Prime has said.
Sen. Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth sent a letter to Prime's chairman, founder and CEO Dr. Prem Reddy, in May expressing concern about those changes and asking Prime to elaborate on the reasons behind them and its future plans for the hospitals.
Prime responded to that letter last week, emphasizing its mission of turning around struggling community hospitals across the country. Prime said that before it bought the hospitals in Illinois they were losing about $200 million a year. Prime said maintaining services with low patient demand is not sustainable, nor good for the quality of care.
Prime also told the senators it plans to expand behavioral health care services for seniors at its Illinois facilities.
In its statement Monday, Prime said it has started fulfilling a previously stated commitment to invest $250 million across the Illinois hospitals.
Prime said those affected by the job cuts are invited to apply for any of the more than 900 open positions across its Illinois facilities. The job cuts were first reported by the Herald News.