Hospital forced to cut 26 jobs
No core services will be affected, spokesman says
By Carissa Marsh Special to the Acorn

Simi Valley Hospital this week announced plans to eliminate programs for outpatient therapy, workrelated injuries and endoflife care, which resulted in the layoff of 26 employees.

Terminated staff includes physical and occupational therapists, admitting clerks, nurses and nursing assistants. Half of those employees have received offers for different jobs within the hospital at the same pay rate, while the other 13 may be offered positions at other hospitals operated by parent company Adventist Health.

The Simi hospital is working to help place those 13 employees, according to spokesman Jeremy Brewer.

"These layoffs are never easy," Brewer said. "Many of these people we consider family. And having to issue these termination notices . . . it's not something we enjoy."

The hospital cited financial drain as reason for cutting the programs, which were struggling to get patients. With the construction of a new $75-million patient care tower that is still waiting state approval and proposed MediCal insurance cuts, the strain on finances was acutely felt by the hospital, Brewer said.

The three eliminated programs are peripheral services that are not core to the hospital's business, Brewer said. He added that it "wasn't a snap decision" to remove the programs and that the hospital had been analyzing the services for a while.

"These are services that are not necessarily in high demand," he explained. "We want to concentrate on our core services as a hospital- emergency department care, women and children surgery and cardiac cath lab."

The money saved by removing the three programs will allow the hospital to develop the core services the community needs, Brewer said.

One service to be cut is the 16bed subacute program, which provides long-term end-of-life care.

As the only facility in Simi licensed to supply this type of care, Brewer said, the hospital will work with physicians and family members to find other facilities for their loved ones- most likely in the San Fernando Valley or west Ventura County.

According to Brewer, the hospital was never able to fill the subacute program to capacity, noting that the 16-bed program had at most 11 patients.

The two other programs being eliminated are outpatient services: The WorkPlace, a program for workrelated injuries and preplacement drug screenings; and Back to Work, a speech and physical therapy program.

Brewer said Back to Work wasn't filling a community need as there are about 20 similar therapy centers in the community, and it was just draining the hospital of vital funds.

"It's not just a business. It's about people," Brewer said. "But we are an industry that, while it has an important mission in the community, we aren't exempt from the everyday realities of the environment we work in. And healthcare is very challenging in all California hospitals right now."

Brewer said the cuts in no way signal a lack of community service.

"The hospital's commitment is so supreme to the community that we made a $75-million investment in the community when few hospitals in California are expanding," he said. "We have to do everything we can to serve the community. And sometimes that means making hard decisions."

The subacute program will close in about 120 days and the two outpatient programs will end in 60 days.