BY TIM BONFIELD
The Cincinnati Enquirer
The Franciscan Health System of the Ohio Valley has announced a 16 percent budget cut that will involve cutting 75 jobs in Cincinnati and Dayton.
The health care company includes two hospitals in Cincinnati, a hospital in Dayton, Ohio, plus four long-term care facilities and two social service agencies.
The cuts are designed to save about $14 million for the rest of 1998, spokeswoman Nancy Thickel said. They are a response to declining reimbursement from managed-care health plans and shrinking patient volume.
About half the job cuts will occur in Cincinnati, and half will occur in Dayton. Of the 75 jobs, 20 involve management-level positions. During its financial struggles, the Franciscan system has been looking for other hospital partners for many months. Talks with the TriHealth group, which includes Good Samaritan and the Bethesda hospitals, recently broke down. But new talks have begun between the parent companies of the local Franciscan and Mercy hospital systems.
In addition to the job cuts, the Franciscan group has slashed more than $1 million from its marketing and advertising budget, eliminated employee discounts at the hospital cafeterias, canceled employee picnics and made other cost-cutting moves.
While management employees were offered severance packages, other staff members were given the choice of a severance package or joining an "employment security list" giving them first chance at other jobs in the system.
