St. Francis Hospital lays off 58 workers

St. Francis Hospital in Roslyn has laid off 58 full-time workers in areas ranging from administration to nursing, a decision that officials said was designed to balance the hospital's budget.

"They were across the board," said spokesman Paul Barry, adding that the employees, laid off last Wednesday, were offered severance based on length of service. "They were carefully designed to have little impact on the quality of patient care."

Barry added that some of the workers were long-term employees. Others were the least senior in their positions. The affected workers were not represented by a union, Barry said.

The decision to reduce employees came in response to declining revenue and increasing costs, he said.

"St. Francis, like all hospitals, is facing major restructuring in the business of health care," Barry said. "There are declining reimbursements and lower patient volumes in some areas."

The hospital is also coping with the rising costs of providing care and administering it as it introduces electronic medical records, Barry said.

"Since 60 percent of our budget is salaries and benefits, it becomes hard not to address balancing a budget without having any effect on our staff," he said.

Before the staff reduction, the hospital employed about 3,000.