Saint Joseph Mercy Health System to trim equivalent of 350 full-time jobs

[Bozita]

Source: Ann Arbor News

Saint Joseph Mercy Health System to trim equivalent of 350 full-time jobs

Posted by Stefanie Murray | The Ann Arbor News May 26, 2009 18:44PM

The equivalent of 350 full-time jobs will be cut next month at four of Saint Joseph Mercy Health System's area hospitals - including Ann Arbor, Saline and Howell - as the hospitals struggle with a projected $52 million budget shortfall for the upcoming fiscal year.

-snip-

Casalou said the job cuts will be spread across nearly every department at the hospital, although he hopes to avoid reducing bedside care jobs. Compared to May of last year, income at the four hospitals is down 25 percent, while charity care and bad debt is up 40 percent.

Bad debt includes services the hospital has billed for but hasn't yet been paid for; charity care includes services the hospital expects to receive no payment for.

"We have a lot of people hurting right now, they don't have insurance, they have lost benefits and they avoid the doctor, and they end up in our (emergency room) and we take care of them," Casalou said.

-snip-

Read more: http://www.mlive.com/business/ann-arbor/index.ssf/2009/05/saint_joseph_mercy_health_syst.html

---

More ripples from the auto industry's circling of the drain.

[BR_Parkway]

1. I've always wondered if a hospital seeing more patients using the Emergency

room because they have no insurance or primary care physician would be financially ahead to set up a clinic to handle the small things that aren't truly emergencies.

The real shame is that people are choosing health care options based on cost is what is reported to be the wealthiest country in the world. I'm just wondering what could be done between now and whatever point we would get to to have affordable healthcare - it seems that if they could keep costs down now, there'd be less likelihood to have to cut services as quickly due to budgets.

[liberal N proud]

2. Wouldn't the equivalent of 350 jobs be 350 jobs?

[Demit]

3. About one-third of the cuts will come from reductions in overtime and part-time and temporary staff

—which you would have seen if you'd clicked on the link and read the story.

[Michigan-Arizona]

4. How sad

I don't know about the others but the one in Ann Arbor is a great hospital.