CALAIS, Maine — Calais Regional Hospital has eliminated 13 positions as one element of a strategy to return to operating in the black.
Ten other positions that already were vacant will not be filled, dropping the total staff full-time equivalent head count to 224.
Citing lower patient head counts, reduced levels of reimbursement for services and the recent closure of the city’s only nursing home, hospital officials say the 25-bed facility through the end of May was operating at a $1 million loss this calendar year.
Among the steps being implemented, said hospital spokesperson DeeDee Travis, is a freeze on salary increases and matching pension contributions. Austerity measures will affect everyone on staff, she said, including hospital executives.
“None of the force reductions affect the quality of care or delivery of needed services to any of our patients,” CEO Michael K. Lally said in a prepared statement. “In fact, we are undertaking these measures to protect our core services in the face of mounting challenges to our industry.
“While these cost containment actions are consistent with national trends in the healthcare industry, it is always difficult to lay off personnel who have performed their jobs capably and professionally,” Lally said. “This workforce reduction was not a decision arrived at quickly or without consideration for staff and patients.”
Hospital employees have been notified of the reductions. Those directly affected were informed individually.
This week’s layoffs come on the heels of 92 health care workers recently losing their jobs with the closure of the Atlantic Rehabilitation and Nursing Center, the Washington County community’s only nursing home.
“reduced levels of reimbursement for services” IE welfare. People not paying there bills. Omama care will make this look like a great day..
More likely less Medicare. With the closing of the nursing home, those Medicare payments are no longer a source of steady revenue. Medicare is not welfare – it is insurance that has been prepaid for one’s entire working life.
Really lets look at medicare. In reality it is much like Omama care. People are forced to pay into it but in reality there is more going OUT then coming IN. Also medicare is paid into by those who are EMPLOYED and the fact is all to many on medicare have never worked. This is why so many docs in private practice do not accept there low ball rates.
Wow, are EMMC nurses reading this?!?
Why? Do you really believe that Nurses are at the heart of the National health care crisis?
I can assure you that Nurses and CNA’s HAVE the biggest hearts in healthcare.
It is only Management who refer to patients as “Heads in a Bed” for census/reimbursement purposes.
Most of the people of Calais are on welfare, unemployed, have no medical insurance, the only medical treatment is at the Emergency Room, what do you expect. The Hospital eats the financial losses. Then the Hospital goes bankrupt. Expect a bankruptcy here, very shortly.
Support universal healthcare in America. It will save lives and be cheaper for the taxpayers in the long run. The only losers will be the health insurance companies and their investors.
Why should we support it? Please be very specific.
Please include in your explanation why citizens of Canada (national healthcare) come here for medical treatment if they can. Thanks.
Nothing to do with them!
Calais and Washington County cannot afford to lose these jobs.
They have already lost them…. :(
Probably didn’t drop a single administrator.
And Mr. LoL-ly keeps his huge salary and benefits as was reported on in this very paper. Cuts all around, except for him, can’t do that, that would be outrageous! Outrageous I say!
Man, Calais is in a death spiral…..
Things certainly aren’t looking good.
Calais Regional has excellent staff, from the doctors and nurses to the various support staff that keep the place running. I would trust my care to any of them.
The people who would most benefit the hospital by losing their jobs are the management, and they don’t appear to be going anywhere.
The area needs the hospital to remain open, and to continue providing a high level of care. To do that, it needs the best management possible. Time for the board of trustees to take a long hard look at how things are run.
Its about the MONEY not the care or how great the staff is. NO MONEY = NO HOSPITAL, wake UP !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Your statement is so right on. It is amazing the mind think ( maybe its non-think) today. Just because you can say, doesn’t mean it happens. It’s called capitalism. someone has an idea or a service that they want to sell/provide. They put up the money ( and sustain the risk) and hopefully sell the product. If nobody buys it, the business goes out of business. OR AS YOU SO SIMPLY PUT IT: “NO MONEY=NO HOSPITAL.
It is over for Calais. Another Maine DEAD ZONE. It is so bad, people are too poor to move out. Just another dying town, in a DEAD County and a Corpse of a State. The smart people with any money left, are packing or already moved out of state.
hows that obama care now!
How much does the CEO make?
Just get some free Obama money. Duh.