Providence said it launched a restructuring this week that will bring a reduction of 600 full-time-equivalent positions.
The major nonprofit, which employs 125,000 people across seven Western states, said it will be shifting those affecting into other open positions “where possible.” There are more than 5,000 open roles across the system, it said.
Affected roles are “primarily in non-clinical, administrative functions, though some patient-care roles are also impacted,” Providence said in its Thursday announcement. Transitional resources are being provided to impacted employees, it said.
“We do not take decisions like this lightly and recognize that behind every role is a person, colleague, friend and caregiver whose contributions have helped carry out our Mission,” Chief Operating Officer Darryl Elmouchi, M.D., said in the announcement. “These difficult but necessary steps are part of a comprehensive approach to financial sustainability that will enable our family of organizations to better reinvest in and revitalize the front lines of care, including the people, programs, equipment and facilities needed to serve our communities.”
Of those cut roles, local reports say 134 are within Providence’s Oregon operations, while more than 100 certified nursing assistants at Providence Regional Medical Center Everett, in Washington, also reportedly received notices this week.
Providence, which runs 51 hospitals, hasn’t been secretive about its need to cut spending.
It logged a $644 million operating loss (-2.1% operating loss) across 2024, the latest in a series of annual losses. The first quarter of 2025 has already started on rough footing with a $244 million operating loss (-3.1% operating margin).
President and CEO Erik Wexler penned an open letter to staff in April in which he warned that “the status quo will not be sustainable” as a result of reimbursement challenges. To compensate, he said Providence had reduced its leadership, consolidated departments and paused hiring for nonclinical positions, among other efforts.
Wexler, speaking to Fierce Healthcare in late May, described a “polycrisis” facing Providence and healthcare providers at large due to the threats of tariffs, inflationary pressure, Medicaid funding uncertainty and reimbursement pushback from commercial insurers. He said that the organization had, at that point, already reduced its full-time equivalents by almost 1,000 from the prior year while warning that more reductions were likely on the way.
“I do think there’s going to be a significant reset of the level of services that we’re able to provide in the United States to people that depend on us for health and wellness,” Wexler said in May. “It’s just not affordable anymore. You’re going to see hospitals close, you’re going to see services shut down, and you’re going to see access to care significantly reduced.”
This week’s news comes after Providence had already cut about 4% of the team at its health plan roughly a month and a half ago.
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