PeaceHealth, the Catholic, nonprofit chain of hospitals and clinics in Oregon, Washington and Alaska, last week laid off 1% of its workforce, or about 162 people, based on the chain’s fact sheet listing 16,221 caregivers. Those layoffs were confined to PeaceHealth facilities in Springfield, Ore., and Vancouver, Wash.
PeaceHealth announced the layoffs in a May 22 letter to employees. It also said it would freeze hiring throughout 2025 in many non-clinician or patient-facing jobs. It told employees the cuts were necessary because, “While we’ve seen meaningful increases in our hospital net revenue, our expenses per day have increased at nearly double the rate of our revenue growth.”
The letter was signed by PeaceHealth Chief Operating Officer Richard DeCarlo and Chief Administrative Officer Sarah Ness, who said PeaceHealth has “restructured and consolidated roles in many departments, streamlining leadership structures while preserving our caregiver workforce wherever possible. At the same time, we’ve recently filled several key strategic leadership roles that are essential to driving our future growth.” The organization is also reviewing its contracts, education and recruitment programs, they said.
PeaceHealth said, where possible, it is “working to match qualified caregivers with open clinical roles across PeaceHealth.”
The latest layoffs follow a 2023 round of cuts at various PeaceHealth facilities, including in Lane County and Vancouver. Those cuts were intended to result in $200 million savings in “process improvements,” PeaceHealth said at the time.
The cuts in 2023 and the latest round were denounced by the Oregon Nurses Association, which represents some 1,700 PeaceHealth nurses, none of whom were laid off in the latest round.
“We are deeply concerned about how PeaceHealth’s job cuts will impact local patients and healthcare providers,” said Kevin Mealy, an ONA spokesperson. “Cutting frontline caregivers at PeaceHealth Sacred Heart RiverBend would strain workers who are already stretched thin.”
Hospitals generally are grappling with rising costs and insurance reimbursements that don’t keep up. A May 1 Hospital Association of Oregon report described Oregon’s hospitals as being “on the brink,” with about half losing money in 2024, and many of the rest with slim profit margins. Oregon hospitals cut about 800 jobs last year, the report noted.
PeaceHealth operates nine medical centers and 160 clinics in Oregon, Washington and Alaska. Even as it faces financial challenges, it has grown its footprint in Oregon and Washington. In October, it said it had agreed to acquire four clinics from Providence Medical Group, and it has begun building a rehabilitation hospital in Springfield in partnership with Lifepoint Health, a national health care system. Last month, it announced it would again partner with Lifepoint to build a behavioral health hospital in Vancouver. Tennessee-based Lifepoint is owned by a private equity firm.
