SVH staff facing salary cut backs

By Emily Charrier-Botts
INDEX-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

The furloughs, which will be in place for 90 days before being re-assessed, impact about 42 employees who are not on the medical staff, including the administrative staff, which will be furloughed 20 percent of the time. In addition, the 315 full-time and 95 part-time employees not put on furlough learned they would receive the 5 percent salary cut. No employee health insurance benefits will change with the new staffing levels. Writing in his blog on the hospital's Web site, CEO Carl Gerlach said, "Smoker has shortness of breath; doesn't pay attention. Smoker has chest pains; doesn't pay attention. Smoker has heart attack and goes to the ER; still doesn't pay attention. Smoker has to have by-pass surgery-now pays attention. He has to. Or else. And that's where we are. This is how I described our situation at the holiday party last Friday night, the day after I'd announced furloughs of all employees not directly involved in patient care." Gerlach added, "I was surprised at the response (from employees). People got it ... We have to cut expenses to meet our revenue. Plain and simple. It's not pretty. But that's where we are. We're doing everything we can to achieve financial balance."

In a press release, Gerlach laid out the financial hardship that hit the hospital in recent months. The facility has seen a drop in special procedures, including surgical procedures, which caused an annualized loss of $540,000. In July, the state delayed reimbursing the hospital for Medi-Cal patient care, costing the hospital $390,000. On average, patients had shorter stays in the hospital skilled nursing facility, which had a total annual impact of $620,000. Finally, the hospital changed anesthesiology service providers early last year to improve the quality of the service, which led to an additional cost of $1,085,000 a year. Gerlach said the furloughs are expected to save the facility about $50,000 a month and the 5 percent salary reduction will save an additional $90,000 a month. The hospital will also be eliminating several positions in January in efforts to save the hospital another $70,000 a month.

"It is our intention and understanding that the sooner we act, the sooner we can rescind the furloughs and salary reductions," Gerlach wrote in a message to employees. "I am sorry that we must impose this cost-cutting measure on our valuable employees and that we must announce it during the holiday season. There is no good time for difficult news. But by all pulling together, we can hopefully ensure the survival of the hospital."