Layoffs at University Medical Center are expected to save $21 million in the next nine months and help make the public hospital more sustainable, officials said today. "This isn't something we want to do, but there's an understanding of why we're doing it," CEO Lawrence Barnard said, reflecting on some of the reactions he's gotten from hospital staff. "We need to structure ourselves in a way that's sustainable." The layoffs, announced on Wednesday, eliminated 285 positions for nurses, office assistants and other support staff. As a result, UMC is ending its outpatient oncology, outpatient pharmacy and Lied clinic services, impacting about 1,000 outpatients, officials said.
