VUMC has cut an unspecified number of jobs amid a challenging operating environment for many hospitals.
The cuts, made across departments in the academic medical center, focused on employees who scored below a certain threshold in performance evaluations.
John Howser, a Vanderbilt spokesman, said the cuts were not considered layoffs and that Vanderbilt, one of the city’s largest private employers, was taking steps to address workplace performance.
“We are an institution constantly in pursuit of excellence aggressively meeting the challenges currently facing not only Vanderbilt but the nation’s entire health care industry,” he wrote in a prepared statement to The Tennessean this week. “We are committed to the very highest level of care for our patients, which includes addressing workplace performance as necessary.”
Total cuts were believed to affect anywhere from 100 to 300 workers on the medical center’s main campus, as well as at Vanderbilt Health One Hundred Oaks, according to numerous sources.
The cuts came as Vanderbilt began its new fiscal year July 1 under pressure from federal spending cuts and much uncertainty around the Affordable Care Act, including whether Tennessee will eventually approve Medicaid expansion.
“Everybody’s tightening their belt,” said Craig Becker, CEO of the Tennessee Hospital Association.
“It’s definitely that time. We’re seeing with the (health care reform law) coming down, everybody’s taking a look at the services they’re providing and whether they can continue providing those services.”
Challenges cited
Two months ago, Vanderbilt cited “unprecedented financial challenges” posed by the federal budget sequestration when it announced measures to help make up for a $20 million shortfall by its recent fiscal year end on June 30. More than half of that amount was expected to be saved by prohibiting more than 14,000 employees from earning vacation time from April 1 through June 30.
The medical center also said it didn’t plan to implement a pay increase July 1 as it tries to cut an additional $30 million, for a total of $50 million over two years, from its budget.
“We will constantly evaluate savings performance from a host of cost reduction activities, while continuing to brace for additional revenue reductions we will likely see over the coming months,” Dr. Jeff Balser, vice chancellor for Health Affairs and dean of the Vanderbilt School of Medicine, said at the time. Officials said the cuts were needed to avoid layoffs.
Locally, Vanderbilt isn’t alone in cutting jobs. Saint Thomas Health, for instance, has had several rounds of job cuts in recent years at its Middle Tennessee hospitals.