Lee Health gave employees an exit option to reduce losses. Here's how many took the offer.
Liz FreemanNearly 900 Lee Health employees have volunteered to quit or take time off this summer in response to a workforce reduction plan announced in May.
The publicly-run hospital system is trying to reduce its workforce among measures to stem operating losses from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Lee Health has roughly 14,500 employees and its labor cost is $1.1 billion this year. The system operates four acute care hospitals and a children's hospital. Lee Health estimates losses of $50 million to $75 million by the end of its fiscal year Sept. 30.
Lee Health isn't alone as hospitals nationwide have faced catastrophic financial challenges due to the pandemic, according to the American Hospital Association.
Hospitals have lost revenue from stopping elective procedures and reducing other services and from increased expenses for personal protective supplies and equipment purchases to care for COVID-19 patients. Patient volumes declined dramatically because people stopped going to hospitals for care out of fear of being infected.
The hospital association estimates short-term losses from March 1 to July 1 at nearly $203 billion to hospitals. On average, the impact is nearly $51 billion a month.
The federal government has provided $100 billion to help compensate hospitals through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act.
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At the end of May, Lee Health’s operating losses for the year hit $47 million, said spokeswoman Mary Briggs said.
“We have taken steps to reduce nonessential operating expenses but the magnitude of COVID-19’s impact on our health system requires us to take action to align our staffing with the volume of patients we are seeing today and in the coming future,” Dr. Larry Antonucci, president and CEO, said announcing the workforce reduction plan in May.
Two voluntary workforce reduction plans were offered. The first is a permanent “exit” with a severance package and the second is a summer sabbatical of four to six weeks. The sabbatical can be used with paid time off or without it.
There have been 602 employees who have offered to quit their jobs over the next two months and 271 who said they'd take sabbaticals, Briggs said.
The number who take summer sabbaticals can increase because employees can take it anytime during this fiscal year, she said.
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Briggs said the exit option was well received.
“We recognize that the decision to apply to exit an organization is not one that is easily made,” Briggs said in an email. “We appreciate the service of these employees to Lee Health, our patients and communities throughout their tenure and in their decision to serve and support Lee Health in this effort.”
Employees had to submit paperwork by May 31 for the voluntary separation package. They were scheduled to be notified last week if they had been approved or not and given a separation date.
In Collier County, the NCH Healthcare System in mid-April adjusted staffing where some employees were reassigned, others saw hours reduced and the executive leadership took a 10% pay cut to help stem losses.
NCH was projecting $55 million in losses by the end of its fiscal year Sept. 30.
There’s been no changes to the reduced hours or reassignments, NCH spokesman Shawn McConnell said.
Lee Health officials in May said they did not have a target for how many employees it hoped would volunteer for either program although the intent is avoiding future workforce cuts.
“There is a lot of uncertainty about the future because of COVID-19, but now that we are phasing (in) elective surgeries and routine services back in our financial situation is stabilizing,” Briggs said.