Lebanon
Hospital Chief Executive James Weinstein has promised that details of the job cuts, which initially were projected to range from 270 to 460, will be released in mid-October.
However, an earlier deadline looms: meetings of D-H’s boards of trustees are scheduled for Thursday and Friday, according to Rick Adams, a D-H spokesman. The region’s largest employer, D-H comprises three organizations: a holding company, Mary Hitchcock Memorial Hospital and Dartmouth-Hitchcock Clinic. Each has its own board, but the membership overlaps.
In the run-up to those meetings, D-H managers have been scrambling to respond to a $23 million fourth-quarter deficit that came into view in early August in a health system filing with the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board.
That disclosure came after the July announcement of the sudden and unexpected departure of D-H’s chief financial officer and led to the downgrade of D-H’s credit by one rating agency and its placement on a negative watch list by another.
The human toll of the deficit came into focus on Sept. 10, after Weinstein sent a message to employees announcing that layoffs were coming before the end of the year and a systemwide review of clinical services would be conducted.
The job cuts will occur at D-H’s flagship hospital in Lebanon and clinics, but not at four affiliated hospitals, according to health system officials.
On Friday, Adams provided an 187-word statement that reiterated general priorities of D-H policy-making and said that the deficit plan was “still in development.” Adams declined to answer specific questions sent by email two days earlier.
D-H’s silence hasn’t stifled speculation and reaction about the impact of the financial misses and the coming job cuts.
For example, in recent days, the Lyme listserv has filled with expressions of worry about the fate of Dartmouth-Hitchcock Lyme, a primary care facility on Dartmouth College Highway. The clinic has four physicians, a physician assistant and nurses, according to the D-H website.
Among those concerned the Lyme clinic might close is Orford resident Eva Daniels, who retired from her job as a nurse at D-H in 2006.
“Up this way, everybody goes to the Lyme clinic,” she said.
Adams declined to comment on the status of the clinic. “As we develop our plans, we will communicate them directly to our colleagues across the Dartmouth-Hitchcock system,” he said in an email.
On Wednesday, Roddy Young, D-H’s chief marketing and communications officer, posted a message on the Lyme listserv with an assurance that “there is no list of cuts to be made. We are beginning an exhaustive review of programs and positions. When we have information, we will share it openly.”
A day earlier, a pair of demonstrators walked down to the Ledyard Bridge at rush hour and stood holding signs proclaiming “Fire Weinstein” and “We Support DHMC Workers.”
One of the demonstrators, Charlotte Rutz, of Hartford Village, later tweeted a picture of herself with a sign saying, “I can imagine better ways to spend $1.5 million.”
That was a reference to Weinstein’s pay package in 2014, the most recent year that D-H has disclosed in publicly released tax returns.
“I decided to speak out because I knew the employees feel scared to speak out,” Rutz said later.
Later on Tuesday, hundreds of D-H employees filled two auditoriums — one with speakers as well as an overflow room with a video feed — for a town hall meeting where, according to attendees, Weinstein expressed regrets about the coming layoffs but did not accept or assign responsibility for any mistakes that led to the deficit.
The event, which D-H denied a reporter’s request to attend, was subdued, according to attendees. Several speakers praised Weinstein for his “courage” and “humility.” Another speaker said there was a perception among rank-and-file employees that D-H is “top heavy” with management, and Weinstein acknowledged that was a fair criticism.
Adams declined to comment on those characterizations of the meeting or to make available a summary of the event published in an employee newsletter.
Rick Jurgens can be reached at rjurgens@vnews.com or 603-727-3229.