Bradford Regional Medical Center officials met with the
hospital’s 770 employees on Friday to discuss changes in scheduling
they say will save money and reduce costs without employee
layoffs.
Kimberly Maben, communications manager, said nearly all the
staff are impacted by the changes.
“Today, BRMC President/(Chief Executive Officer) George E.
Leonhardt said that these operational changes are necessary to
maintain a strong hospital as we continue to face such challenges
as reductions in government reimbursement and the increasing cost
for uncompensated care,” Maben said. “Officials expressed optimism
in their plan and said they felt relief that the measures do not
include plans for layoffs.”
A memo distributed to the hospital’s employees Friday from
Leonhardt outlined scheduling and policy changes, the most
substantial of which seems to be redefining a full-time employee as
one who works 7.5 hours per day and a minimum of 72 hours per pay
period.
“We are not reducing wages; rather it’s a reduction in the
number of hours worked per shift,” Maben said. “No loss or changes
in benefits will occur. These employees will receive their regular
wage increase for the year, as granted following employee
evaluations.”
Those affected by the changes are being contacted individually,
according to the memo from Leonhardt.
The changes will take effect Jan. 7, and have been under
consideration by senior management for several months.
“We are changing the way we’re scheduling so that we can more
effectively utilize staff time and staff expense,” Maben said.
“The changes focus on reducing structural overtime by more
carefully scheduling 12-hour shifts and shifting some personnel in
non-clinical areas to 7.5 rather than 8-hour shifts,” she said.
“This type of work day is prevalent throughout the industry and in
many health care settings.”
Maben said the positions identified for the schedule changes
“range across the organization, wherever possible.”
And in a show of their “commitment to work toward ensuring a
viable financial future for the organization,” management staff and
senior management are foregoing their salary increases, she
added.
Other changes BRMC is making include re-evaluating vacant
positions and reducing “traveler” staff. Maben said the evaluation
of vacant positions has been ongoing.
“In some instances, through attrition, non-clinical work
functions have been redistributed throughout a department without
having to add a new employee,” she explained. She said “travelers”
are staff contracted through an outside agency who work at BRMC “at
premium cost when we’re unable to hire those positions
locally.”
“On an ongoing basis, we try to recruit individuals to work in
those positions rather than pay a higher ‘traveler’ rate. We will
always continue to put patient care first, and to ensure that
appropriate positions are filled either through staffing or via
contract when necessary,” Maben said.
And while these scheduling changes are coming at the same time
as the hospital’s $14.5 million expansion project, Maben was
careful to point out that the two are not connected.
“The staff scheduling changes in no way affect or are related to
the building project,” she said. “The financial package for the new
building was already secured through a mix of state funding, bonds
and philanthropy.”
She said the hospital’s operation budget and the funds for the
expansion project are not connected. Things are moving along as
expected with the expansion, as the buildings are undergoing
surveys to be approved for medical use before they are cleared for
opening, she said.
The new addition is expected to open early next year.
Meanwhile, Maben said the changes in staff scheduling are being
announced to BRMC employees in a series of meetings which began
Friday and will continue Monday and Tuesday. She added that
hospital management would have preferred to speak to staff before
the information was announced in the media.
Several hospital employees had contacted The Era Friday and
provided the information regarding the planned changes.
