UVM Health cuts 142 jobs — an estimated $9.5 million in staff positions

The University of Vermont Health cut 142 positions across its Vermont and New York hospitals and hospice care network on Tuesday. The positions affected are largely administrative, a hospital spokesperson told VtDigger.

UVM Health eliminated 76 positions and will post the remaining 66 as new roles with restructured job descriptions. UVM Health, which consists of three hospitals in Vermont, three in New York and a home health and hospice group, is one of the state’s largest employers.

At UVM Medical Center in Burlington, an estimated third of the positions cut are unionized, including laboratory technicians and patient support specialists, according to Emma Galvin, an organizer for AFT Vermont, which represents the unions across UVM Health. At Porter Medical Center in Middlebury, four full-time nursing positions have been cut, Galvin said — three in primary care and one in obstetrics and gynecology.

The clinical changes are meant to respond to patient demand, according to Annie Mackin, who runs UVM Health’s press relations. Mackin said there will be adjustments in how some programs are delivered and possible delays in some non-clinical or support processes.

The cuts are estimated to save the hospital system $9.5 million each year, Mackin said.

They come as the hospital network faces increasing pressure to cut costs. A May report from an independent liaison recommended that the hospital cut its spending by $100 million each year for the next three years as it prepares for revenue reductions from Medicaid and commercial insurers.

“It’s a start,” Mike Smith, the former Vermont Agency of Human Services secretary who leads that independent liaison group, told VtDigger.

“UVM Health really needs to urgently address its financial and productivity issues,” Smith added. “Right now, they are on a trajectory not to be affordable or sustainable. I gather they are starting to address these issues now, by taking some measures today.”

Smith noted that his team’s memo recommended phasing in these cuts, targeting administrative and non-clinical expenses first. He also said that clinical changes should be made in close collaboration with other hospitals and the Agency of Human Services, which is overseeing broader hospital restructuring efforts, to minimize disruptions to the healthcare landscape.

In April, UVM Health’s CEO and President, Dr. Steve Leffler, told lawmakers that, since the year began, their flagship Burlington hospital, UVM Medical Center, was losing $460,000 every day.

“These are extremely difficult decisions because of their impact on our valued colleagues,” Leffler said in a Tuesday press release. “We must make these hard choices to ensure we can continue to provide high-quality care that is accessible and more affordable for the communities we serve.”

“These steps are necessary to address the financial realities facing health care today,” he added. “They are part of a longer-term effort to build a more sustainable system that can continue to serve our communities for years to come.”

Mackin said the cuts were intended to reduce redundancy across hospitals and consolidate some responsibilities. They are part of a broader effort to bring down administrative expenses across the network.

Last summer, UVM Health cut 146 administrative roles. In October, following a bruising hospital budget process with the state’s healthcare regulator and Leffler’s hiring as the organization’s leader, the network made major changes to its leadership structure and laid off several high-level executives.

“UVM Health cannot balance its budget on the backs of healthcare workers. Cutting positions that support patient care is an irresponsible decision for our community,” Galvin wrote in a statement on behalf of Support Staff United, Vermont Federation of Nurses and Healthcare Professionals, and Porter Federation of Nurses and Health.

This story was republished with permission from VtDigger, which offers its reporting at no cost to local news organizations through its Community News Sharing Project. To learn more, visit vtdigger.org/community-news-sharing-project.