Baptist Health, which operates hospitals in Madisonville and Paducah, is announcing staffing changes including temporary layoffs during this pandemic.
Baptist Health is temporarily reassigning some staff, furloughing others and reducing pay for leaders, according to a news release.
They say actions by state government suspending elective surgeries and diagnostic tests have slowed, or put on hold, some standard business operations and reduced work volumes.
To address reduced revenue and expenses related to COVID-19, top leaders with Baptist Health and the Baptist Health Medical Group will take a 15 to 20 percent cut in pay.
Baptist Health is also implementing temporary unpaid furloughs across the eight-hospital system, the Baptist Health Medical Group and the System Services Center.
The furloughs, announced to all employees on Thursday, affect regular full-time and part-time employees in jobs that do not support caregivers or are not critical to clinical operations related to COVID-19. The number of affected employees has not been finalized.
CEO Gerard Colman says, “Our intent is to return to normal operations as soon as possible, and begin calling back employees. This is just a temporary measure. We value our employees, who are the key to our success, and will continue to be the key to our success going forward. But, first and foremost, we need to ensure we will be here when our communities need us most.”