Ministry Health Care Announces Termination Of Up To 250 Jobs

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Ministry Health Care has announced plans to lay off hundreds of workers at its hospitals and clinics in Wisconsin and eastern Minnesota.

Ministry plans to cut between 225 and 250 full-time-equivalent workers at its 15 hospitals and 47 clinics. In a news release, two factors were cited: high deductible health insurance plans that are keeping people from seeking medical care, and federal sequestration budget cuts, which include a 2 percent reduction in Medicare payments to hospitals and physicians. Ministry officials say those cuts are costing them $10 million.

Steve Brenton, president of the Wisconsin Hospital Association, says Ministry is not the only medical organization being hurt by sequestration.

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“We have estimated that the one-year impact of sequestration – these Medicare budget cuts – is about $100 million for Wisconsin’s 140 hospitals.”

Brenton there’s another $30 million dollars in Medicare cuts for the physicians who are employed by those hospitals. He says other Wisconsin medical facilities may have to join Ministry in laying off workers.

“I would not be surprised at all. I know based on anecdotal information that many organizations have implemented targeted hiring freezes. And the bottom line is, if your revenues are going to be down $130 million dollars, it’s going to have an impact on your ability to pay for expenses.”

The Wisconsin Hospital Association is an advocacy organization. Ministry Health Care officials declined to do recorded interviews for this story.