Obamacare and Obama economy kill NC medical jobs, Wake Forest Baptist Hospital likely will cut more than 1000 jobs, 950 jobs already cut, Small and medium sized hospitals hit hardest

“If you like your health care plan, you can keep your health care plan.”…Barack Obama

“If you’ve got health insurance we’re going to work with you to lower your premiums by $2,500 per family per year. We will not wait 20 years from now to do it, or 10 years from now to do it. We will do it by the end of my first term as president.”…Barack Obama

“About two-thirds of the hospitals serving Medicare patients, or some 2,200 facilities, will be hit with penalties averaging around $125,000 per facility this coming year, according to government estimates.”…NE News Now

We warned you.

From the Greensboro News Record April 13, 2014.

“Another round of major expense reductions — including job cuts — are coming at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, with management’s plans being announced potentially as early as this week, according to sources.

Multiple employees, who are not being identified because they fear losing their jobs, have told the Winston-Salem Journal they understand that several hundred to more than 1,000 job positions could be eliminated, with the process already started in some departments.

People with knowledge of the situation say Wake Forest Baptist’s board of directors could be projecting up to an 8 percent reduction in operating expenses in fiscal 2014-15, which begins July 1. The sources say the board is contemplating a similar step in expense reduction for fiscal 2015-16.

The center reported to bond holders and rating agencies on Feb. 28 that it had $983.9 million in operating expenses through the first half of fiscal 2013-14. If it were to have $2 billion in operating expenses for the full fiscal year, an 8 percent reduction could represent about $160 million.

Operating revenue for the first half was up 4.5 percent to $960.4 million.

The center has about 13,000 full- and part-time employees, making it Forsyth County’s largest workforce. At least 950 job positions have been eliminated since a “re-engineering” initiative began in April 2012 that was projected to reduce expenses by several hundred million dollars.

When asked about another round of cost cutting, the center issued a statement Friday that said “the medical center is deeply engaged in its annual budgeting process and is continuing to proactively address the challenge of declining reimbursement for health care services. Since we are still in the planning cycle, it would be premature to comment further at this time.”

One source said that the board and Dr. John McCon nell, the center’s chief executive, are “rethinking the size of the expense base” and that the cuts “are not a one-time measure, although the hope is that through the reductions, the expense situation will improve. There is a need to expand the overall clinical platform to raise revenue.””

“The enhancements are similar to those of other academic medical centers and health systems in response to changes in federal health reimbursement formulas, higher mandated requirements for quality and infrastructure, new models of care delivery that are focused on value, and declines in federal funding for research and discovery.”

Read more:

http://m.news-record.com/news/article_fb40f586-c2c2-11e3-8af3-001a4bcf6878.html?mode=jqm

Also from above:

“Other industrywide challenges include more people without health insurance seeking medical help in its emergency department, which tends to increase the amount that hospitals are writing off as bad debt.”

More people without health insurance ???

From Citizen Wells November 15, 2012.

“Update: Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center to cut 950 job”

“Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center will lay off 76 employees this week and cut a total of 950 jobs by the end of next June, the center’s chief executive said today.

Dr. John McConnell said most of the cuts are administrative positions, but some faculty members could lose their jobs due to cuts in federal research funding. He also said 2012-13 revenue is being affected by “deep cuts in Medicare and Medicaid payments, which constitute nearly half of our health-care reimbursements.”

In a statement, the center said the cuts were being made “after a long and careful review of current staffing levels across the organization.”

The center said its restructuring is “designed to position the institution for success aligned with the challenges of health-care reform, federal budget deficits and a decline in research funding from The National Institutes of Health and private industry.”

https://citizenwells.wordpress.com/tag/nc-wake-forest-baptist-medical-center-to-cut-950-jobs/

From Citizen Wells November 25, 2012.

“That’s a delicate balance, said Mark Graban, a national expert and consultant on health care management who lives in San Antonio, Texas.

“It’s easy to add up the cost savings of reduced payroll,” he said. “But it’s hard to add up the side effect of those layoffs.”

He said layoffs are sweeping the industry. Graban referred to a report from the American Hospital Association that says hospitals will cut 93,000 jobs during 2013.

Wake Forest and other major hospitals across the nation pledge that nurse-to-patient ratios won’t change despite the job cuts. Graban said that simple pledge may only mask lingering problems that hurt the quality of patient care.

Nurses and other professional staff, for example, see the headlines, see friends who may be laid off and work in fear, he said.

“A lot of times, quality and good patient outcomes are a result of nurses and other staff going above and beyond,” Graban said. “My concern would be not that the professionals are going to get lazy, but are they going to continue to be motivated to go above and beyond?””

“The coming changes could cost North Carolina’s hospitals up to $7.5 billion over the next 10 years , Dalton said.”

http://citizenwells.wordpress.com/2012/11/25/obamacare-forces-93000-hospital-job-cuts-in-2013-nc-hospitals-costs-up-7-5-billion-the-next-10-years-medicare-and-medicaid-reimbursements-mass-layoffs/