Nassau health system to lay off 175

Layoff notices will go out Wednesday to 175 employees, including 15 doctors, at Nassau University Medical Center and associated facilities to help close a projected $50 million budget gap caused by rising pension costs, reduced Medicaid payments and higher operating expenses.

The layoffs, predominantly affecting lower-wage employees represented by the Civil Service Employees Association, will be effective immediately, said Nassau Health Care Corporation president and chief executive Arthur Gianelli.

"I am not happy about this, but this is something we have to do," said Gianelli, who added that the layoffs will not affect patient care.

But CSEA president Jerry Laricchiuta warned that "patient care will definitely go down as a result of these cuts. It's a sad situation. We are going backwards."

The layoffs at NUMC, the only public hospital on Long Island, follow the retirements of 77 hospital workers, most of them in higher-wage brackets and including 26 nurses and one physician, who accepted voluntary separation packages last month.

The retirees received a maximum payout of $30,000 each, based on salary and seniority. The laid-off employees will receive no severance, Gianelli said.

The 175 employees Wednesday will receive information packets about the layoffs and offers of counseling. They will then be escorted from the building, Gianelli said. "We plan to treat people with dignity and respect," he said.

The reductions will save the hospital $19.5 million and reduce the 3,800-member workforce of the Nassau Health Care Corp., which operates NUMC, the A. Holly Patterson Extended Care facility and several health care centers, by 6.6 percent, Gianelli said.

The layoffs affect 157 hospital employees, 14 workers at NHCC's family health centers and four staffers from Patterson Extended Care facility.

Nassau lawmakers expressed concern about the layoffs. "This does not bode well for patient confidence," said Legis. Kevan Abrahams (D-Freeport). Legis. Norma Gonsalves (R-East Meadow), whose district includes the hospital, promised to closely monitor the layoffs "to make sure services are not affected."

The hospital is facing a $50 million gap next year in its $553 million budget, Gianelli said. NUMC operates as a public benefit corporation; such entities are created by governments to perform specific functions benefiting the public.

The hospital is anticipating a $25 million increase in pension costs, a $15 million reduction in Medicaid supplemental payments -- meant to compensate for the fact that public hospitals treat more low-income patients -- and a $10 million hike in operating costs, Gianelli said.

In addition to layoffs, NUMC plans to cut $10 million in contract costs; eliminate $6 million in overtime and negotiate $4 million in givebacks from doctors. An additional $5 million in federal stimulus dollars will also be used to close the budget gap.

The strategy still leaves the hospital with a $5.5 million budget hole, Gianelli said. Those funds, he said, must come either through union concessions or further layoffs.

To obtain concessions, the hospital and union must first reach a deal on a new contract.

CSEA's contract with NUMC expired at the end of 2009 and employees have not had raises since. The union cannot challenge the layoffs.