Louisiana’s largest hospital system lays off 800 staffers

Louisiana’s largest hospital system has laid off nearly 800 of its staff amid rising healthcare labor costs after the Covid pandemic emergency has come to an end.

Ochsner Health announced today it was ‘eliminating 770 positions’ — around 2 percent of its entire staff — in ‘the hardest change we have ever had to make’.

It comes after extra money for healthcare systems from the government was cut off after Biden put an end to the pandemic on May 11.

Hospitals received funding since March 2020 to help with staffing and other costs.

The main roles that were cut from Ochsner Health are management and non-direct patient care roles, it said.

The health team stated: ‘No physicians are impacted by this reduction, and any impacted employees with active clinical credentials will be offered direct patient care roles.’

The hospital system revealed that it had been battling ‘financial and workforce challenges’.

A shortage of patient clinicians, high inflation and the end of the pandemic relief funding from the government have also contributed to Ochsner Health’s decision.

CEO Pete November said in a statement: ‘This is not a decision our executive leadership team takes lightly or one we ever wanted to make. 

It is the hardest change we have ever had to make at Ochsner, but one we must to ensure we continue to be a strong organization with the resources to fulfill our purpose and lead the way for clinical excellence and innovation.’

Last week, leaders at the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that Covid is no longer a global emergency — a symbolic moment the pandemic is near its end. 

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the UN health agency, said Friday: ‘It’s with great hope that I declare Covid over as a global health emergency.’

However, he stopped short of declaring the pandemic over, warning that the virus still posed a threat in developing countries that have not had access to vaccines.

It comes as the final pandemic restrictions in the US are set to end today months after President Joe Biden declared the pandemic ‘over’ for America.

Since March 2020, Congress established the $178 billion Provider Relief Fund to support hospitals and other health care providers to compensate for financial losses and unexpected expenses during the pandemic. 

This was to help healthcare providers prevent, prepare for and respond to Covid as well as make up for lost revenues as a result of the pandemic.

Plus, $8.5 billion in American Rescue Plan rural funds was shared out to hospitals and other providers that served patients residing in rural areas.

According to Fierce Healthcare, the amount of layoffs from hospitals and healthcare systems in 2023 are already close to 2022 whole year totals.