Recordpub.com - RMH cuts 54 employees: 54 vacant positions won't be filled; hours cut for another 10

FRONT ENTRANCE RMH

By Mike Sever

Record-Courier staff writer

Robinson Memorial Hospital in Ravenna is cutting 54 full- and part-time employees as part of a staff reduction plan to eliminate 95 full-time equivalent positions.

Affected workers were notified of the cuts this week. Another 10 current employees will have hours reduced, according to Robinson Memorial President and CEO Stephen Colecchi.

The hospital also won’t fill 54 full- and part-time positions that are currently vacant, he said.

“No direct bedside care staff are being eliminated. I thought it important we do nothing to impact patient care,” Colecchi said.

He said the staff reduction “is part of the hospital’s overall plan to reduce operating expenses. Because of the local economic downturn and other factors, the hospital will not achieve its net income goal for 2009. It is necessary for us to reduce our operating expenses immediately in order to ensure the hospital’s continued financial viability.”

The hospital is projecting a net loss for this year of $832,000. Robinson realized a net gain of $6.904 million in 2007 and $6.697 million in 2008.

The employees will be let go from the hospital and Robinson Health Affiliates, which operates two urgent care centers, an occupational health program called Working Partners, and physician practices with sites in Aurora, Kent, Streetsboro and Brimfield.

Robinson Memorial is a 150-staffed-bed hospital in Ravenna that serves the residents of Portage County and surrounding communities. It is the second largest employer in the county, after Kent State University, with about 1,600 full- and part-time staff.

The reduction isn’t the first for the hospital. Staff cuts occurred in 2003 and in the mid-1990s.

Employees affected by the reductions will be entitled to severance benefits in accordance with established hospital policy, he said.

Colecchi said the hospital’s financial performance has been affected by the dramatic rise in uncompensated care, by the institution of a state hospital franchise tax and by a drop in its patient numbers.

Uncompensated care, which consists of bad debt and charity care, totaled $5.978 million in 2007. That total rose to $7.408 million last year and is projected to hit $8.946 million this year. That’s a 49.6 percent increase over 2007 costs, Colecchi said.

The state’s Ohio Hospital Franchise Tax, which became effective July 1, will cost the hospital approximately $1.7 million annually.

The decline in the number of patients coming to the hospital can be blamed on the local economic downturn, Colecchi said. Robinson’s volume declines are similar to declines experienced by other community hospitals across the country, he said.

Despite Robinson’s status as a county-owned facility, the hospital does not receive any financial subsidy or taxpayer support from Portage County.

That status contributes to the hospital’s overall financial performance, Colecchi said.

“Because of the employee benefits mandated by state law, Robinson’s employee benefit costs are significantly higher than a similarly sized community not-for-profit hospital. The additional cost of these employee benefits to Robinson is approximately $4.5 million on an annual basis which is a direct hit to the hospital’s bottom line,” Colecchi said.

In August, the hospital broke ground for a $19.7 million expansion of its surgical services department and opened the new, 75,000-square-foot Robinson Health Center at Streetsboro.

“We continue to need to make those strategic investments or the situation will get worse,” Colecchi said.