UCLA Healthcare To Eliminate 400 Staff Positions
UCLA Healthcare, the largest medical complex in the University of California system, soon will eliminate about 400 full-time jobs, university officials said, the Los Angeles Times reports. Last year, UCLA Healthcare reported earnings of about $11.7 million, less than its $30 million budget goal.
UCLA officials attribute the system's below-expectations financial performance to an unexpected increase in uncompensated care and an increase in Medi-Cal beneficiaries seeking treatment at UCLA hospitals.
Dr. David Callendar, associate vice chancellor for the UCLA hospital system, said that recent service reductions and closures at other hospitals in Los Angeles County also negatively affected the system's financial performance. He added that the health system's financial problems should not be attributed to Navigant Consulting, which UCLA hired in 2002 to recommend improvements to system operations.
UCLA officials hope to eliminate most of the 400 full-time positions through attrition and retirements, the Times reports.
However, Callendar said, "It's going to be difficult to do this without some sort of a layoff" (Ornstein, Los Angeles Times, 2/7).