Leak led to Oschner layoff timing

BATON ROUGE, La. - Ochsner Health is planning to lay off 770 employees across Louisiana and Mississippi, Ochsner CEO Pete November revealed in a May 11 message to staff. The numbers represent about 2% of the overall team to be without a job. 

Officials report the layoffs won’t affect doctors, nurses and direct patient care staff. Workers in management, administration and clerical positions will see the majority of cuts. 

Ochsner cited increased labor costs, a nationwide shortage of patient care clinicians, a weakened economy and inflation as part of the reason for the layoffs. Those factors have caused supply costs to escalate. 

Fired employees sounded off to WVUE-TV on the company’s decision to abruptly lay off workers saying they were more concerned about patients. 

The company-wide e-mail said the layoffs were in “primarily non-direct patient care" but WVUE spoke with several employees who regularly had direct patient contact. 

One of those unidentified workers said she worked in a patient-facing supervisory role at an Ochsner clinic. A follow-up e-mail to her hours later scheduled an appointment to sit down with management and officially be terminated. 

"I was an Ochsner cheerleader, I loved Ochsner ... but now it’s really left a sour taste in my mouth,” she told WVUE. 

Another woman, who WVUE did not identify, said employees, after learning of termination, were escorted off Ochsner property by security. The story has been verified by several staff members but who declined to be identified. 

In a statement, an Ochsner spokesperson blamed the timing of the layoffs, during “Nurse’s Week,” on a media leak forcing the health system’s hand.  

Oschner officials also said the cuts will not impact its ability to provide patient care across all its communities. There are no plans for additional system-wide workforce reductions, officials said. (WVUE & WAFB 05/12/23) 

NOLA.com reports: The cuts will be spread evenly across Ochsner’s 42 hospitals and 200-plus care centers in the two states. The layoffs are expected to save Ochsner up to about $150M annually. Ochsner lost some $96M in 2022. Expenses exceeding revenues by 1.5%. It was first unprofitable year in more than a decade.

 Background: The health system, which is the Louisiana's largest private employer, operates 42 hospitals and more than 200 urgent care and health centers in the two states. Before the layoffs, the company said it employed roughly 38,000 people.