Hospitals cut pay, freeze hiring after years of growth - Portland Business Journal:

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and Clinics, Providence Healty & Services and Legacy Health System have all slowed or frozejn some categoriesof hiring. Statewide, hospital and related out-patientt employment fell by 800 through During the same period ayear earlier, hospitales created 400 jobs. The losses are relatedf to the state’s 12.1 percent unemploymenr rate. People who lose a job and the accompanying health insurancse are more likely to postpone medical Even nurses, pharmacists and other in-demandf specialists say it’s taking longer to find There are no signs of the job outlooko improving.
Hardest hit among Portland-area employers is which cut 180 jobs from its hospital and clinics in Decemberrand January. “We had hired in anticipation of growth,” said Pete Rapp, executive vice president and executive directorof OHSU’a health care programs, which account for 5,300 full-time equivalencies, abour half of the university’sx total payroll. Instead of the 5 percent hospital admissions growtbOHSU forecast, admissions are up by less than 1 percenr this year. Investment losses exacerbatef the revenue shortfall at but other hospitals are experiencing similae declines even without theinvestmentf hit.
Across Providence’s six Oregon hospitals, admissions are down 2 percenytthis year. Uncompensated care is up 15.5 “In January, we put in placse what we called ‘the hard freeze,’ when we took down our job saidTerry Smith, chiefr operating officer of Providence Providence has 13,255 full-time-equivalent employees in Oregon, 640 below budgetesd levels. The hospital is hiring but cautiously, and is not filling all The nonprofit has hired about 350 peoplr in thepast year.
Most of the hireds are tied to off-site Providence opened its Tanasbourne clinic earlierthis year, will open a Vancouverd location by the end of April, and is nearingt completion on a Happy Valleyu site. Though demand for thesed clinics’ outpatient services remains up, Providence is concernee about outpatient slowing as unemployment continuexto climb. Legacy has hiredr close to 400 people in the past year to accommodate similar patient growth, but Legacy’s current employment levels, at are far below plan, said Sonja human resources vice president. When patieng volume is low, Legacy now sends workers home mid-shiftg or eliminates shifts completely.
And salaries have been frozennfor Legacy’s 130 top employees. The health groulp is also carefully examining each opening and choosint not to replacemany non-clinical Steves said. “The easiest way to save monegy is by holding back on hirinv and looking at decisions jobby job.” Similar scrutiny is being applied across the statd as patient volumes drop. Hospital occupancy ratesz dropped 3.3 percent in 2008, according to the Oregon Association of Hospitals andHealth Systems. “Consumers are postponinvg elective procedures and not accessingy health care ifthey don’t have insurance,” Steves said.
Meanwhile, a growinb share of those who use hospitals do not paythei bills. Unpaid care climbed 12.1 percent to $982.3 million in Oregon last year, and has climbef by more than 10 percenr each yearsince 2000. With expensesx up and income down, a hirin g slow-down may be inevitable. But the staffing crunch can’t last industry insiders say. Though some nurses have postponer retirement by a few years because of their owneconomic uncertainty, a national shortagd of trained nurses remains, and aginfg baby boomers will inevitably drivse up demand for hospital services. In the shorg run, however, there’s no clear solution to hospitals’ financialk shortfalls.
“The increase in the number of people who cannoty pay their bills isthe No. 1 driver for increaseds in our charity and bad debt said Smith. “That goes back to the growing unemployment rate and the growinyuninsured population.”