by Grace Schneider, @gesinfk –
Louisville-based Baptist Health is eliminating 288 positions across its system, a move that will affect nearly 170 people in the Louisville area.
Employees were alerted about the cuts in a general announcement Tuesday and were being contacted individually on Wednesday, spokeswoman Kit Fullenlove said. They will be offered severance and outplacement job assistance if they can’t find other jobs within the company. Some 149 of positions involve workers in administrative roles in what’s known as system services. None affect bedside positions at hospitals, Fullenlove said.
Baptist officials said that “this continues to be a time of both transformation and great uncertainty in the healthcare industry. Baptist Health is realigning its structure to best meet the needs of our patients and communities within a challenging financial environment.”
Administrators said the move was unrelated to the $150 million acquisition last year of the former Floyd Memorial Hospital in New Albany, Indiana. The health system has 22,000 employees in its eight markets. Locally, besides the 519-bed hospital on Kresge Way in St. Matthews and the Indiana facility, Baptist operates a hospital in LaGrange.
The not-for-profit company has been in growth mode in recent years. Besides the purchase of what’s now called Baptist Health Floyd in Indiana, the system applied to the Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority for approval to issue up to $459 million in tax-exempt revenue bonds last October to refinance debt, to invest more than $120 million into an advanced information system, and to renovate its 519-bed Baptist Health Louisville, among other capital investments at its campuses. It also has hospitals in Corbin, Paducah, Richmond and Lexington. Executives later decided not to pursue the bond funding.
Reporter Grace Schneider can be reached at 502-582-4082 or [email protected].
