Beaumont Health is temporarily laying off nearly 2,500 employees and permanently eliminating about 450 positions because of the financial strain from the coronavirus outbreak.
The state’s largest hospital system halted nearly all surgeries and other medical services unrelated to COVID-19 to focus on the unprecedented influx of patients during the coronavirus outbreak that began five weeks ago.
Beaumont is a nonprofit organization with eight hospitals, 145 outpatient locations, and 38,000 employees.
Beaumont Health CEO John Fox will receive a temporary 70% pay cut. Other members of the hospital system’s Executive Leadership Team will receive pay reductions of up to 45%.
“While many front-line employees have never been busier, other parts of our operations have drastically declined or ceased,” Fox says in a news release. “We must make difficult, quick decisions now to protect and readjust to an uncertain future. … We must adjust the way we operate our organization moving forward. This pandemic has changed the delivery of health care, and we will be treating patients with this virus until we get a vaccine.”
Beaumont, which is a not-for-profit organization, also plans to postpone or cancel some nonessential projects.
In the meantime, Beaumont officials are asking the state and federal governments for financial relief.
Beaumont’s net income plunged in the first quarter, which ended on March 31, falling to a negative $278.4 million.
“Through this crisis, we have dramatically changed the way we care for patients,” Fox says. “We will continue to adapt our health care system to deliver the best, compassionate, extraordinary care every day. Despite an uncertain future, I am confident Beaumont will emerge from this crisis as a strong organization.”
Beaumont has provided medical care to more than 5,200 patients with COVID-19. Nearly 750 coronavirus patients are hospitalized at a Beaumont facility. More than 500 patients have died at a Beaumont hospital.
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