America's largest healthcare companies are in dire financial straits, with some of the biggest names on the chopping block as the remainder battle economic headwinds. As patients struggle with rising medical debt, access issues and an overall lack of affordable, quality care, providers and other healthcare companies appear to be falling victim to the same system often described as being in crisis. According to a recent report from Gibbins Advisors, the 79 healthcare bankruptcy filings in 2023 and 57 in 2024 surpassed the annual average of 42 for the previous four years. While senior care and hospital bankruptcies surged past typical levels in the first quarter, overall healthcare bankruptcies dropped markedly in the three months through July. While the tally of filings in 2025 has remained on the worrying trend of the last few years, this year has stood out because of the scale of the companies failing to meet their financial obligations.
As part of its ongoing effort to stabilize finances, MetroHealth will close six Cleveland-area outpatient centers, the system announced Monday. Over the past decade, MetroHealth expanded its services to provide care in more communities, but the additional offices resulted in duplication of services and operational inefficiencies, the health system said. The planned closures will streamline operations and increase access to care by providing more services in a single location, MetroHealth said.
BJC Health System is phasing out its pension plan, barring new participants since the start of July. The nonprofit health system in a statement Thursday said current participants will be able to contribute and accrue benefits until 2030, when the plan will be frozen. Under a pension freeze, employees keep the benefits they have earned, but do not receive additional credit for years of service or future pay raises, resulting in smaller retirement checks. BJC's move is the latest in a long-term trend in which employers have been moving away from pensions and toward 401(k) plans, which shift more responsibility to employees to fund their own retirements.
Emory Healthcare confirmed staff layoffs in its financial services and revenue cycle department. The layoffs came Tuesday as part of an 'effort to streamline operations and realign our structure with future strategic plans.' An Emory Healthcare spokeswoman told Channel 2 Action News that the 'difficult decision to reduce its workforce” affected less than 1% of their overall staff in the metro Atlanta area. Additional staff from the department are being moved to other roles in the department to better use their skills and experience, the spokeswoman said. 'We are committed to supporting the individuals who will leave us with needed resources throughout this career transition. We express our sincere gratitude for the hard work and contributions these employees have brought to our team,' Emory staff said in a statement.
Mercyhealth has agreed to pay $1 million to employees it either terminated or subjected to a wage deduction because they refused to comply with the health system’s COVID-19 vaccine policy, according to the EEOC. Mercyhealth also offered to reinstate the employees it terminated. The settlement follows an EEOC investigation that found reasonable cause to believe that Mercyhealth discriminated against the employees based on their religion by denying them a religious accommodation. The EEOC also found that Mercyhealth discriminated against a class of similar employees across all its facilities from September 2021 to May 2022.
According to a WARN Alert from the WA State Employment Security Department another 126 job layoffs are coming from Providence Healthcare. The cuts will begin in October. According to sources, including KREM 2 TV in Spokane, Providence Healthcare is citing what they called 'multiple pressures' on their healthcare system for the cutbacks. These include cuts in WA state Medicaid, lowered reimbursements to providers in WA, and other economic factors.