GA Hospitals cutting payrolls to cope with hard times

A recent series of job cuts shows that tough financial times remain for the state's hospitals – and may get worse next year, experts say. The biggest cuts have come in two hospital systems in Columbus. Columbus Regional Health eliminated 219 positions in a cost-reduction move in November. The cuts came after a $17 million operating loss in fiscal 2013 and a similar loss in fiscal 2014, the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer reported. The job cuts included 99 terminations. Later in the month, St. Francis Hospital, also in Columbus, eliminated 65 filled positions and 15 vacant positions while grappling with a $30 million accounting inaccuracy it discovered in October.