Mee Memorial Healthcare System to lay off 43 employees

Dozens of layoffs are on the horizon for employees at one King City hospital, where officials say staff is being reduced to keep essential services in the community.

The Mee Memorial Healthcare System says it is laying off 43 of its total 353. The hospital’s CEO, Michael Hutchinson, announced the news to employees last Friday, and workers effected will stay on the job until Aug. 18.

Hutchinson says their staffing has been increasing in the last few years, but patient load and volume has not, which forced them to make a hard choice.

For Many in South Monterey County, Mee Memorial Hospital in King City is the only place to go for medical emergencies and needs within 50 miles north or south.

“It’s between Salinas and Paso Robles, so it’s right in between, so we need it,” said Alberto Soto, a King City resident.

After months of review and other cost-saving measures, the hospital board and administration decided to cut 43 staff members.

“We decided that rather than doing it overtime with employees worried about whether they would have a job or not, that we would do it now, rather than over three months, six months, nine months,” said Hutchinson.

Departments across the board saw cuts based on their patient volume and staffing. No doctors, nurses or physician assistants were let go, but workers in registration, admission and engineering were impacted.

Mee Memorial has also discounted staffing for the intensive care unit and eliminated orthopedic services, something residents say they are shocked to see go.

“A lot of people get injured here. Orthopedic services, you know there’s a lot of field workers here, they get hurt or whatever. Where they going to go?” said Soto.

The hospital says they are taking this opportunity, however, to reformat some other services like optometry, pediatric specialists and psychology.

“With our ophthalmology group coming, we’ll be able to do cataract surgeries here,” said Hutchinson.

The hospital says reductions in reimbursement by public and private insurers, proposed cuts to Medicare and Medi-Cal and rising costs are all leading to these staff cuts.

“A lot of people that live here work at the hospital, so it’s going to be bad for the city,” said Soto.

Hutchinson says they have been working with other hospitals and cities in Monterey County to try to get new jobs for the 43 people affected by these cuts.

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Mee Memorial Healthcare System announced that it will be laying off 43 of its 353 employees.

Mee Memorial said it is an effort to reduce financial vulnerabilities and keep essential services in the community. It said the decision comes after months of review and after trying other methods of cost saving, such as eliminating or changing operation contracts for services.

The 43 employees were given 30 days notice, and their last day is Aug. 18.

CEO Michael Hutchinson said the layoffs are painful for the affected employees, and for all of those at Mee.

“These are good people who will be missed. Unfortunately, we are forced to make this hard choice in order to adapt to changing needs in healthcare, so we can continue to adjust structure and services to meet the health care needs of the South County community,” Hutchinson said.

In addition to the layoffs, Mee Memorial will reduce the types of services provided, including discontinuing staffing in the intensive care unit and cutting orthopedic services.

Hutchinson said this is necessary because of decreases in Medicare, Medi-Cal and other payor reimbursements, but he also said one of the challenges is unreliable government funding and legislative delays.

Mee Memorial said other financial challenges include reductions in reimbursement from private and public insurers, proposed cuts to Medicare and Medi-Cal, higher costs and more competition.