The move is part of an overriding strategy to adapt to an uncertain healthcare environment by becoming more cost-efficient and consumer-focused, the organization said, adding that the cuts won’t impact direct patient care. Memorial did not specify which of its 25,000 total employees would be losing jobs.
The news comes not long after Memorial Hermann’s CEO Dr. Benjamin Chu abruptly resigned after about a year at the helm. He plans to transition to a public policy role.
Memorial is currently in the credit review process with both Moody’s Investors Service and Standard & Poor’s but it does not expect the transition to lead to any material credit action, executives said.
“Our greater (credit) concerns rest with changing economic conditions in Houston, a result of the prolonged energy recession,” Dennis Laraway, executive vice president and chief financial officer, told Modern Healthcare last week.
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Alex Kacik is the hospital operations reporter for Modern Healthcare in Chicago. Aside from hospital operations, he covers supply chain, legal and finance. Before joining Modern Healthcare in 2017, Kacik covered various business beats for seven years in the Santa Barbara, California region. He received a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in Central California.