South Carolina-based Providence Hospitals to lay off 30

Columbia, SC-based Sisters of Charity Providence Hospitals will lay off about 30 employees as it seeks to hold off projected losses of $1 million this year and $7 million next year, officials announced. Providence is licensed for 304 beds and employs 1,900 people at two locations. The hospital posted a surplus last year of almost $6 million, but cuts in federal reimbursement, decreases in patient overnight stays, and an ongoing legal challenge from Lexington Medical Center has cut into the hospital's revenue and prevented it from attracting new business through improvement of its facilities and equipment.