Once the Affordable Care Act health insurance marketplace closes on March 31, the expectation is more people will have access to care that they didn’t previously have and couldn’t afford. If so, that would seem to make doctors’ offices and hospitals busier than ever.
Yet in October, IU Health announced it would cut about 900 jobs statewide by Dec. 1. None of those cuts was in Lafayette, said Al Gatmaitan, CEO of IU Health Arnett. An increase in productivity while managing a growing patient base protected local jobs, he said. Even so, IU Health Arnett closed its urgent care center on Greenbush Street on Nov. 1, going from three urgent care centers to two.
Also in October, Franciscan Alliance, owner of St. Elizabeth Central and St. Elizabeth East hospitals, laid off 275 employees across the state, including 39 in Greater Lafayette. Franciscan Alliance officials cited reduced reimbursements, health care reform laws and changes to health insurance plans for employees.
Brian Tabor, vice president of government relations for the Indiana Hospital Association, said there’s no simple explanation as to why hospitals are having to reduce staff just as more consumers are becoming insured.
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