SARASOTA, Fla. — Sarasota Memorial Hospital announced Friday that due to struggles with a "sudden" and "drastic" drop in hospital volume and revenue due to COVID-19, they will need to temporarily furlough employees and reduce the hours of others
“This was an extremely difficult decision, and one that we did not make lightly,” Sarasota Memorial Hospital CEO David Verinder said in a letter to employees today. “Staff have gone above and beyond to care for our patients throughout this crisis, even as they have been anxious about the health and well-being of themselves and their families."
Sarasota Memorial reports they have experienced a $16 million reduction in revenue in March. The financial blow is expected to be even greater in April and May.
The hospital said the loss of revenue is because of the moratorium on elective surgeries. A spokesperson for the hospital said they have never seen a budget shortfall like this and there was no way they could have impacted the impact losing elective surgeries would have.
The hospital says they had to redirect funds, resources and equipment to respond to the coronavirus pandemic. That meant preparing for a surge, purchasing additional supplies and staffing a high amount of isolation rooms across the hospital.
Now, the hospital needs to make a number of changes and financial cuts to fight the lull in revenue.
“While we have implemented a hiring freeze for all but mission-critical positions, and reduced staff’s hours in areas that have had to cancel services, COVID-19 still has cost SMH millions of dollars,” Verinder said. “We must take greater action now to sustain our ability to care for the community throughout and after this crisis.”
Other cost-cutting measures include temporarily suspending any non-critical patient services and projects and pay cuts for senior leaders.
Sarasota Memorial did stress that the hospital will continue to meet the needs of those seeking medical care under their roof.
Those who have been furloughed during this time will keep their positions once normal operations resume or sooner if they are needed to assist during the COVID-19 crisis, according to the hospital.
“Once the pandemic abates,” Verinder said, “I am hopeful that we will bounce back quickly, thanks to the reputation, resilience and strength of our team and the support of our community.”
The hospital said that these temporary cuts will not impact nursing care or sending home nurses needed for essential operations and tending to those in their care.
Employees that are furloughed will have their benefits covered for 90 days and use the time off to balance loss in hours. But, once they run out of hours employees will need to apply for unemployment.
Sarasota Memorial hopes to resume normal operations with their full staff as soon as possible.
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