STURGIS, Mich. – A southwestern Michigan hospital has announced they’ll be cutting about 60 staff people in a reorganization.
The President and CEO of Sturgis Hospital made the announcement Thursday morning.
“We have done a substantial amount of work over the past year to reduce costs and weather the changing landscape of health care,” says Robert LaBarge, President and CEO in a press release which was also posted on the hospital’s Facebook page.. “Health care is continually changing. The old ways don’t work for a small hospital any longer, so we have to embrace new ways of doing things. It’s time to restructure our operations in a way that is consistent with what we believe the future of health care will be for rural communities.”
LaBarge, along with the Board of Directors for the hospital, says that heart of business for the hospital is outpatient services, which make up about 80-85% of activity. They say over the past 18 months, reimbursements from Medicare, Medicaid and other insurers have not kept pace the increase in costs and a decrease in volume of patients at the hospital.
The hospital has closed the Wound Clinic, Home Health, Pain Clinic and an urgent care center in Constantine. They will also be closing Hospice Services, Obstetric Services and the Oncology Treatment Center. They believe that there are other medical providers in the area that can take care of patients from Sturgis in those areas.
The hospital will also be reducing Inpatient Medical/Surgical Services and will keep four staffed inpatient beds. The staffing and structure of the Emergency Department will also be adjusted.
Outpatient services for laboratory services, urgent care, rehab services and cardiac rehabilitation services will continue.
