ST. LOUIS — Another hospital system that serves the St. Louis area has announced it’s furloughing some employees.
Hospital Sisters Health System, which operates three hospitals in the Metro East, confirmed it’ll furlough employees due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has had a rapid and dramatic impact on healthcare. In order to continue to serve our mission long into the future, HSHS had to make significant changes in our organization which included voluntary and involuntary furloughs of our colleagues. We remain fully committed to continuously improving the lives of our patients and the communities we serve well into the future,” the hospital system said in an emailed statement to 5 On Your Side.
HSHS did not say which hospitals will have furloughs or how many employees it’ll include.
HSHS has 15 hospitals in Illinois and Wisconsin. It operates St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in O’Fallon, Illinois, St. Joseph’s Hospital in Breese and St. Joseph’s Hospital in Highland.
Several health care systems in the St. Louis area have announced furloughs as hospitals take financial hits from cutting back on elective procedures.
Washington University said it’ll furlough about 1,300 employees for up to 90 days, and SSM Health is placing 2,000 employees on unpaid leave.
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