Facing financial pinch, Garnet Health cuts staff

Orange County provider lays off 49 employees

MIDDLETOWN — The Orange County-based Garnet Health said Friday it has cut its workforce by 49 people as it responds to recent operating losses.

The reduction, which includes 25 leaders, represents just over one percent of the total workforce, systemwide, and $13 million in salaries and benefits.

Staff reductions within the system include 40 eliminated positions at Garnet Health Medical Center’s Middletown campus, five positions across Garnet Health Medical Center — Catskills’ Harris and Callicoon campuses and four eliminated positions throughout Garnet Health Doctors locations.

A request for information about the types of positions or the departments was not immediately answered. Friday’s news release did say the positions eliminated are non-union and no staff employees providing direct care to patients have been affected.

Garnet Health said the layoffs come alongside other efforts already implemented to try to ease losses and reduce spending, such as renegotiation of key vendor contracts, moving high-volume lab testing in-house at a lower cost, and streamlining workflows to increase provider availability and patient access.

The nonprofit cited financial challenges that many health systems nationwide face, such as the rising cost of equipment, the high cost of temporary labor, continuing low payor reimbursements and a decrease in patient volumes and revenue.

All affected staff have been notified and severance packages have been provided to all fulland part-time employees. Garnet Health says it provides health care to about 500,000 residents in the mid-Hudson and Catskills region.

“It is with a heavy heart that this decision had to be made,” said Garnet Health President and CEO Jonathan Schiller. “We tried hard to avoid a layoff. Unfortunately, a fair and honest response to the health system’s operating losses required an adjustment to the size of our workforce.”