Hospital to lay off 89 workers

Jackson Bell

Rising costs for workers’ compensation claims, medical malpractice

lawsuits and state-mandated nurse-to- patient ratios will force

Providence St. Joseph Medical Center to lay off 89 employees by

August.

The jobs cut will affect laundry workers, technicians,

secretaries, clerks and administrative nurses. They make up nearly 4%

of about 2,300 employees, hospital officials said. They were notified

Wednesday that their positions will expire Aug. 8.

“Our financial condition has started to deteriorate as a result of

the additional costs, and we made this decision because our future

financial liability is a priority,” hospital administrator Patrick

Petre said.

The not-for-profit hospital will also close its laundry

facilities, opting to hire an outside contractor for the service.

Several 13-week contracts have been given to temporary nurses to

meet a state law requiring one nurse for every six patients. That

ratio will be adjusted to one-to-five by January, officials said. The

hospital will pay a total of $9.5 million for the additional nurses

during a two-year period.

A big jump in workers’ compensation expenses from $3.7 million in

2003 to a projected $10.3 million this year also triggered the

layoffs.

In addition, medical malpractice expenses are $800,000 higher than

budgeted, hospital spokesman Dan Boyle said.

Hospital officials should have seen this coming, a union leader

said. They have known about the state’s nurse-to- patient ratio law

for five years and had enough time to come up with a plan that would

save jobs, said Jennifer Kelly, a spokeswoman for the Service

Employees International Union, which represents the hospital’s staff.

“Using the ratios as an excuse is not putting the patients first,”

Lewis said. “And putting the patients first is what the hospital

should be doing.”

Hospital officials plan to hold job fairs on the St. Joseph campus

to help the laid off workers find employment elsewhere.

In the meantime, a $160-million addition to the hospital,

featuring an auditorium, conference center, laboratory and surgical

area is slated for completion early next year.

But Boyle said the project is mainly funded from community

donations and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which requires

the hospital be brought up to state standards for earthquake safety.

The hospital’s parent company, Providence Health System, operates

a chain of 19 hospitals in California, Oregon, Alaska and

Washington. Five are in Southern California.