St. Mary-Corwin Medical Center in Pueblo informed a little less than 300 employees of layoffs as the organization works to restructure and focus on core programs.
CEO Mike Cafasso announced Thursday morning the impacts mean the closing of the medical surgery unit, the telemetry unit and a reduced Intensive Care Unit. Employees were offered severance packages and job placement services when given notice they would be out of a job by May 1. The layoffs also impact senior level leaders.
Cafasso says, "attempts in recent years to stabilize performance have fallen short and we are taking immediate and drastic action to preserve our legacy."
According to Cafasso, the primary financial reason for their troubles is the business conditions and reimbursement rates from insurance and providers.
"This has never been about the quality of care that we offer here, this has strictly been a financial challenge for healthcare in general," says Cafasso.
Cafasso said the hospital will quickly move to focus on core strengths in cancer care, orthopedics, re-imagined primary care services, and a redesign of the legacy campus. Put simply, Cafasso said "we cannot continue to be all things to the community."
There will only be 42 patient beds available at the facility, that’s down from 114 currently in place. The hospital employs a total of 800 full time staff and an estimated 100 part time employees.
We reached out to Parkview Medical Center in Pueblo, who told us the hospital is aware of changes coming to St. Mary-Corwin and are working to make sure people in Pueblo have access to the medical care they need.
In a statement Parkview called the move devastating news for the community of Pueblo. In the statement Parkview called Corwin its closest competitor but said no one is celebrating this decision. "It abandons Puebloans in need of critical care and puts additional pressure not only on Parkview Medical Center but other regional health care facilities, many of which are at capacity today," reads the statement.
In October, St. Mary-Corwin announced it was closing its birthing center due to financial reasons, which prompted Parkview Medical Center to add more resources to handle extra patients then.
