Erlanger will implement possible layoffs, voluntary buyouts and ask some employees to take 12 days off in the next two months in an attempt to stanch spiraling losses.
The public hospital has lost more $6 million in the last five months, half of that in November. It employs about 4,700 people.
A labor management plan for 2011-2112 was sent out to managers on Monday and the information will be posted on the hospital’s intranet site at noon today.
The Times Free Press obtained a copy of the plan, which details how the hospital plans to cut costs.
Full-time employees in some departments will be asked to take 12 paid days off before March 1. Salaried employees will be asked to work if they do not have enough annual leave to cover their time off, the plan says.
Overtime and premiums paid for working extra shifts will also be curtailed, according to the plan.
A voluntary buyout program will be implemented in select departments in beginning in January.
The hospital is not implementing a job-hiring freeze but will review all current and future open positions to evaluate which positions are not needed, the plan says.
The plan also notes there may be layoffs.
“We also anticipate that positions will be eliminated in selected departments, starting with the executive level,” the plan says.
Mariann Martin covers healthcare in Chattanooga and the surrounding region. She joined the Times Free Press in February 2011, after covering crime and courts for the Jackson (Tenn.) Sun for two years. Mariann was born in Indiana, but grew up in Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Belize. She graduated from Union University in 2005 with degrees in English and history and has master’s degrees in international relations and history from the University of Toronto. While attending Union, ...
So why in the heck did they bail out Hutcheson in Fort Oglethorpe if this was going to happen? I live in Fort O and I will NEVER go to Hutcheson for even a splinter....Maybe the big money folks at Erlanger (MANAGEMENT) could take a pay reduction to keep these folks working...????
great idea iarwilb60. I know those folks up top getting paid well. Look at brexler's potential severance package. This is crazy......
Once again good, hardworking people with families are getting the shaft because of games played by "executives" in the past. Are you getting tired of it yet America?
Umm. Is there anyone asking where the board of directors has been while Erlanger was apparently sliding into to such debt and alleged chaos? There've been quite a few headlines over the last few months praising the hospital my sweet wife works at. Then, boom! I'm not so sure that this group of folks is being completely honest. I know that the news today to the employees sure came as a shock.
The whole board should resign or be fired for getting to the Hutcheson deal. Go pitch a tent at Erlanger and Occupy the boardroom.
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