Facing Deficit, Loma Linda Medical Center to Lay Off 600

Facing its first operating deficit in 10 years, Loma Linda University Medical Center plans to lay off as many as 600 employees by July 1 to reduce costs.

The layoffs would save the medical center an estimated $20,000 to $30,000 annually per employee, or $12 million to $18 million, Loma Linda President John D. Ruffcorn said Tuesday.

The medical center, which now employs 4,500 people, has an operating budget of $250 million, he said. But Ruffcorn declined to disclose the extent of the deficit.

He said layoffs are expected in all departments, ranging from technicians and nurses to secretaries and janitors. He said doctors will not be affected because they are affiliated with the Loma Linda medical school.

Ruffcorn said Loma Linda’s financial problems are primarily the result of the rising cost of malpractice insurance premiums, which increased by $6 million in 1986, reduced Medicare reimbursements, and the increasing number of patients admitted through health maintenance organizations, which contract with hospitals at a discount.

“This is tough to deal with,” Ruffcorn said. “It was not something easy to foresee.”

A special task force of Loma Linda officials has also been appointed to seek additional ways of “streamlining” the medical center by eliminating “unnecessary programs” without “jeopardizing health care,” he said.

The medical center near Redlands received international attention with the infant heart transplants performed by Dr. Leonard L. Bailey, chief of pediatric cardiac surgery.

Today, it is the flagship of the vast Seventh-day Adventist health care system, which operates 540 medical facilities in 68 countries.

Ruffcorn said the cost-cutting effort will not affect expansion programs such as the 240,000-square-foot medical center wing under construction that is funded by tax-exempt revenue bonds.

The medical center, which is the largest employer in this community of 12,000, plans to help people who are to lose their jobs over the next five months find new ones. He said about half the center’s 4,500 employees live outside Loma Linda.