Novant lays off 400 in reorganization

Published 5:37 pm Monday, July 13, 2015

CHARLOTTE (TNS) — Novant Health laid off 400 employees, or 2 percent of its workforce, Monday as a part of a reorganization.

Spokeswoman Robin Baltimore said some positions will be eliminated but the North Carolina-based system will work with employees to “match them to open positions.”

“Teams will spend the next 45 days working through that process,” Baltimore said. “We anticipate at the end of the reassignment process, up to 400 people will need to find roles outside of the system. Including some who chose to leave the organization despite being offered a position.”

Novant’s system includes Novant Health Rowan Medical Center. It wasn’t clear Monday how many jobs were lost there, if any.

In a written statement, the system said Monday’s announcement is the result of a “proactive and thoughtful process” that began last fall to “redesign the way the organization works to achieve greater operational precision, enhance quality outcomes and help provide remarkable, affordable care for patients.”

The evaluation was necessary to continue to serve Novant Health communities “despite declining reimbursements and many other challenges facing the healthcare industry today,” the statement said. “Teams across the organization have worked together to standardize processes which will improve patient quality and safety outcomes, patient satisfaction and achieve financial savings to ensure Novant Health’s long-term financial stability.”

While eliminating some positions, the system is recruiting employees for more than 1,000 other positions, the statement said. “This is an operational balancing of our workforce to meet the demands of healthcare consumers in today’s world. … Overall this process has streamlined Novant Health operations and creates a blueprint for success as the industry continues to evolve. Redundancies have been reduced and standardization in many areas of the organization has been applied.”

Officials said Novant Health is “financially healthy and strong today.” In April, the system announced that it has generated a profit of $201.8 million last fiscal year, a 26 percent drop from the year before. The system has annual revenue of $3.8 billion, operates 14 medical centers and hundreds of outpatient facilities and physician clinics across four states. It serves more than 4 million patients annually.