Burlington, Massachusetts-based Tufts Medicine, a regionally integrated healthcare system that includes Tufts Medical Center, Lowell General Hospital, MelroseWakefield Healthcare, an expansive home care network, and a large clinically integrated physician network, has announced a system-wide reduction in force.
The personnel realignment will impact 174 employees over varying effective dates. The decision was driven primarily by high labor and supply chain costs and inadequate reimbursement rates.
According to a spokesperson, "Tufts Medicine employees are talented, dedicated, highly-valued contributors to our mission and values. That's why decisions like this, while sometimes necessary, are extremely difficult. While we continue to make steady progress towards our goal of financial recovery, like many other health systems, we continue to face challenges from persistent capacity issues, high contract labor expenses, and rising supply chain costs.
"As a result, we are taking steps to reduce the size of our workforce, affecting 174 employees, the vast majority in administrative and non-direct patient care roles, to help stabilize our financial health and best position Tufts Medicine to continue providing high-quality care to the patients and communities we proudly serve."
“We cannot and will never rely on cuts alone to fund our mission. Improved access and programmatic growth will be the primary drivers of our future. Additionally, we are working to reduce our reliance on travel staffing, improving patient flow in our inpatient and ambulatory sites, and optimizing other processes to ensure we are capturing revenue and working as efficiently and effectively as possible.”
Change is coming. There will always be a tomorrow, no matter how much you may try to ignore it. There are no guarantees in life or promises for a bright future. We see good people being laid off through no fault of their own. Just because something bad hasn't happened yet doesn't mean it won't. It can happen to anyone, anytime, anywhere. No one is guaranteed to wake up tomorrow and still have a job by evening. Are you now wondering, Am I Next?