The Cleveland Clinic Foundation is laying off employees throughout the global health care system during rising costs in the healthcare industry (CCF). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.
Hiring continues elsewhere in health system
For the first time in years, the Cleveland Clinic Foundation is laying off 114 employees throughout the global health care system. But the number of pending layoffs in the context of the scale of the system is comparatively small and hiring in other departments continues, Clinic officials said today.
“We made the difficult decision to reduce the number of administrative management positions across our organization,” said Angie Kiska, executive director of public and media relations at Cleveland Clinic, in an e-mail to NEOtrans. “As you’ll see, 114 of our 83,000 caregivers are impacted.”
In a statement issued today, Cleveland Clinic cited “financial challenges facing the healthcare industry” as the reason for the layoffs. Kiska said that, over the last several years, healthcare organizations across the country have experienced financial strains.
“While we are seeing the highest number of patients ever, unfortunately, we continue to experience significant increased costs in a variety of ways, including several that were unexpected in three key areas: medications and supplies; malpractice insurance (and) uncompensated care,” she said.
The Clinic was the second major health care provider in the region to announce layoffs in recent months. In June 2024, University Hospitals announced plans to cut more than 300 jobs, including 10 percent of its leadership. The layoffs were due to rising costs, inflation and labor shortages, UH officials said.
Direct caregivers and researchers, such as these lab technicians, are not affected by today’s announcement of layoffs at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation (CCF).
National health care industry publications say costs have recently increased due to a number of factors. Those include rising labor costs, drug prices, supply chain challenges, lingering pandemic-related costs, aging infrastructure, payor contract negotiations and information technology. Not all of those factors are affecting all health care providers.
“Due to the financial challenges facing the healthcare industry, we have restructured areas within the organization to better align with today’s healthcare environment’s needs and drive operational efficiencies,” the statement read. “This change impacts 114 caregivers across the organization.”
The scale of this layoff is comparable to those in the recent past, including in 2010 and 2013, which numbered fewer than 200 each time. The Clinic also experienced a financial crunch during the depths of the COVID-19 pandemic. But, instead of laying off workers during a healthcare crisis, the Clinic dealt with it by freezing its capital improvement program. That $1.3 billion program has advanced since the pandemic.
“This reduction is not specific to one department, rather administrative manager positions in various nonclinical areas,” the statement continued. “The caregivers impacted by these changes can apply for other jobs throughout the organization or may opt to accept a severance package.”
“We continue hiring and have many job openings across the health system,” Clinic officials noted. “Cleveland Clinic currently employs 83,000 caregivers across the organization.”
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