MEDPARTNERS: Layoffs, Closures Planned for Southern California
KPC Medical Management, the new owner of MedPartners' "financially ailing network of physicians and medical clinics," has announced that it will lay off 500 workers and close 29 clinics, the Orange County Register reports. Of the 500 employees facing layoffs, 75 are physicians. KPC Medical Management President Donald Smallwood said that the restructuring plans -- devised to "trim" a $9 million monthly deficit -- "may cause 'minor inconvenience' to some patients." Four Orange County clinics in Anaheim, Irvine, Stanton and La Habra closed and their medical facilities will be consolidated. In an open letter to the company's 5,200 employees Smallwood said, "Simple math now demands that we either reorganize or perish ... This company, along with the medical services industry itself, is in desperate need of reorganization." KPC purchased the majority of MedPartners' California physician network holdings last month (Crabtree, 10/21). Birmingham, AL-based Medpartners has renamed itself Caremark Rx, Inc. in recognition of its renewed focus on pharmaceutical services as a core business.
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