Ochsner Health, a leading healthcare provider across Louisiana and Mississippi, has announced that it will lay off nearly 800 employees. The decision was communicated to staff by CEO Pete November in a message on Thursday, May 11.
The layoffs are a result of financial and workforce challenges that the healthcare industry has been facing for some time. Ochsner, like many other healthcare providers across the country, has experienced increased labor costs, a shortage of patient care clinicians, high inflation, and the end of pandemic relief funding from the government.
November thanked the staff for their contributions towards reducing discretionary spending, decreasing reliance on agency workers, renegotiating spending on supply and service contracts, and holding on hiring for management positions. Despite the progress made, Ochsner needs to do more to continue delivering on its mission and meeting the needs of patients and communities.
The layoffs will affect 770 positions, which represent roughly 2% of Ochsner’s team. The impacted positions are primarily non-direct patient care roles in management and administrative jobs, and clerical positions. However, physicians and other patient-facing staff will not be affected. Any impacted employees with active clinical credentials will be offered direct patient care roles.
Ochsner will provide impacted employees with full pay and benefits for up to 65 days depending on their work schedule, in addition to severance packages for full-time and part-time employees. The healthcare provider will also offer career support, wellness resources, and details on how to apply for other job opportunities within Ochsner. The HR Solutions Center will be available to answer questions and provide support to impacted staff throughout the process.
November acknowledged that this was a difficult decision and one that the executive leadership team did not take lightly.
“I take very seriously the gravity of this decision and its impact on our team members and their families,” said November. “We will do everything we can to deliver the resources and support our team needs and treat everyone leaving our organization with the respect and dignity they deserve.”
