Weirton (WV) Medical Center is laying off workers in an effort to save the hospital $2 million a year. The hospital is cutting 36 full-time equivalent positions. The layoffs affect union, non-union and management jobs at the hospital, including nurses and LPNs.
Officials at North Wilkesboro, NC-based Wilkes Regional Medical Center have announced that 45 positions have been eliminated in order to cut costs. According to Gene Faile, who assumed duties as the hospital's chief executive officer in early December, the restructuring is intended to improve the hospital's operating performance and secure its future prosperity.
Lansing, MI-based Sparrow Hospital has eliminated 23 managers' positions as part of a plan to cut costs. The move follows an announcement in November that Sparrow would seek an undisclosed number of buyouts from nonunion staff. Officials said 72 workers have accepted that offer. The hospital is facing a declining economy, rising costs for people unable to pay their bills, and a reduction in elective procedures, officials said.
Lee Memorial Hospital in Fulton, NY, has confirmed that layoffs are on the way at the facility. A state commission had previously recommended closing the hospital.
The top administrator at Blue Hill (ME) Memorial Hospital has announced an undetermined number of staff layoffs in an effort to stave off bankruptcy. In a letter, interim administrator Erik Steele, MD, said a number of belt-tightening measures, including staff reductions, must be undertaken if the hospital is to continue serving patients. In the letter, Steele said some cost-saving measures were put in place, including a hiring freeze, a ban on unnecessary travel, and other steps. But in order to avoid financial disaster, he said, staff reductions are unavoidable and will be announced Jan. 19 or 20. About 340 people are employed at the hospital.
Many brands didn't live to see 2009. Some of the casualties of 2008 included Linens N' Things, Sharper Image, KB Toys, and Mervyns. But this is a good thing, writes Laura Ries, president of Ries & Ries, an Atlanta-based marketing strategy firm. "It is brand Darwinism at its best, survival of the fittest," Ries writes.