Officials with the Santa Clarita Valley’s only hospital, Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital, confirmed Monday its leadership is making “a little over 100” layoffs.
The decision was made as the result of “tremendous financial pressure” facing hospitals all over the country, Patrick Moody, spokesman for Henry Mayo, stated Monday via email.
“After carefully reviewing all departments, we are taking important steps to reduce expenses, increase revenues and ensure Henry Mayo’s long-term financial health,” read a statement from Marlee Lauffer, vice president of marketing and communications with Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital. “Unfortunately, these steps include making a necessary and painful adjustment to our labor force today. The reductions we made have been carefully considered and prioritize patient care. Every one of our employees showed tremendous resiliency and dedication during the pandemic, making these workforce reductions all the more difficult.”
Moody added that the cuts were made “across many departments,” and that the hospital currently has approximately 1,800 employees, but the exact number of layoffs wasn’t immediately available.
“We are unable to provide a precise number of layoffs for this reason: Some Henry Mayo services, e.g. dining services, are contracted to outside firms,” Moody wrote Monday. “Some of those firms will be reducing their staff who work at Henry Mayo, but some of those staff, instead of being laid off, may be reassigned to other hospitals or firms where those firms also provide services.”
The reduction of about 5.5% of the hospital’s workforce is the biggest news at Henry Mayo since the announcement of the hiring of Kevin Klockenga, who was named the hospital’s CEO in February as the replacement for Roger Seaver, who retired as CEO in March after serving just under 22 years.
The move comes about 10 weeks after a patient care workers union for the hospital held a one-day strike that UE Local 1004 organizers said was intended to encourage the hospital to negotiate in good faith.
The hospital’s current contract with about 700 patient care attendants, surgical techs and other support staff, which was negotiated three years ago, expired Jan. 31.
When asked if the move was connected to the negotiations, an emailed statement from hospital officials said, “there are no labor negotiations at this time.”
A representative for UE Local 1004 did not respond to a request for comment as of this story’s publication.
“We have implemented this financial improvement plan to ensure we continue to provide the residents of the Santa Clarita Valley with first-class health care,” Moody wrote.
This is a breaking news story and more information will be added as it becomes available.
