SALT LAKE CITY — Intermountain Healthcare said Monday that it eliminated 396 jobs and created 107 new positions as part of the structural overhaul it launched late last year.
Of the positions that were eliminated, 59 were already vacant, and a total of 67 people in jobs that were cut "left Intermountain because … there was not another suitable position," the hospital system's top leadership announced in a newsletter emailed to employees.
The remainder of workers whose jobs were eliminated ultimately stayed with Intermountain in some capacity and make up "part of 1,075 caregivers that now have redesigned jobs and job titles, which include new responsibilities and leadership opportunities," the organization said in its newsletter.
Those changes are in addition to announcements made earlier this year that 98 information technology employees and about 2,300 billing and scheduling workers at Intermountain would be outsourced to different companies.
The figures announced Monday are the clearest indication so far of precisely how many employees were affected in some way by Intermountain's large-scale reorganization, which began in earnest last December.
Employees were told Monday that "the organization redesign is about 98 percent complete." The total laid off positions described to employees "represent the final numbers," Rob Allen, senior vice president and chief operating officer of Intermountain, told the Deseret News.
Intermountain leaders were reluctant earlier this year to release estimates on how many employees may ultimately be left out of a job, saying it was hard to project the results of its efforts to find other jobs within the organization for workers displaced from their positions.
Intermountain told employees Monday that most of the 396 positions eliminated were in "management."
"The result is a reduction in management-level jobs and an increase in the number of frontline caregivers," Allen said in the newsletter.
With 37,500 workers, Intermountain is Utah's largest employer and runs 22 hospitals and 185 clinics.
Those who lost their jobs and didn't find work elsewhere in Intermountain were assisted in their search for new employment, according to Allen.
"Our human resources team has worked hard to help these 67 people through their transition and help them find new job opportunities," he told employees. "We know this has been challenging for them and their families, and our team has worked diligently to support them through this."
Allen said Intermountain acknowledged the total 1,075 employees with updated job descriptions have also been through "a demanding journey."
"We appreciate the flexibility to take on new responsibilities and roles," he said.
Of the large number of employees who were outsourced, "nearly all of them accepted" the offer available to them at their new employer, Allen added, though the precise number of employees who declined was not provided.
Change and morale
Intermountain CEO Marc Harrison said Monday that the changes were necessary in order to keep Intermountain's services affordable.
"Unless we address our costs, many people aren't going to be able to afford their health care," he said in the message sent to employees. "And our premiums are going to keep going up, we won't be competitive, and it will be bad for everyone."
Harrison added that "great organizations go through change at the moment it becomes appropriate."
"They don't wait for things to become an emergency," he said.
Allen cited "unsustainable increases in the cost of health care" as part of what prompted the changes, and said in the newsletter that Intermountain responded "by better integrating our team and streamlining our services."
According to Allen, one cost reduction passed along to consumers includes a new health plan offered to employers, via the organization's insurance arm SelectHealth, guaranteeing no more than a 2 percent increase on premiums from year to year. Another is a "lower-cost maternity delivery cost plan" being introduced as an option for patients this year, he said.
But one employee at Intermountain's LDS Hospital who wished not to be named said Monday they and their colleagues aren't buying what top leadership is selling.
"I think they've taken a big hit with … just how employees feel. There really (are) morale issues across the board," the employee said. "It's kind of, 'show me, don't tell me,' in my opinion."
Aside from the restructuring changes, turnover has increased as a result of poor morale, straining and stressing out remaining staff, the employee said.
"There (are) just several that are abandoning ship, because the face has changed," they said. "There's not that cohesive feeling anymore. It's 'your team' and 'my team.'"
Asked about morale concerns, Allen said such an issue "wasn't unexpected." But he characterized current morale at Intermountain more positively.
"As we've made sure employees understand the need for these changes, most have become more settled," he told the Deseret News in an email.
Earlier this year the Deseret News spoke with 15 current and former Intermountain employees, including a former executive, who each also described low morale at their workplace and argued the restructuring was heavy-handed and uncalled for in light of the hospital system's successes with its finances and quality of care.
Harrison said in response to those interviews at the time that the organization was doing its best to preserve jobs, but that he also acknowledged the layoffs would be "very big for each of the people who's affected." He promised then that those permanently displaced from Intermountain would be "an extremely small percentage of our overall workforce."
That promise was kept, Allen told the Deseret News on Monday, since the 67 people left without any position as a result of the restructuring are 0.2 percent of Intermountain's employees.
Without going into detail, Allen's message in the employee newsletter Monday hinted at aspects of the restructuring which didn't "go exactly right the first time."
"We experienced some of that, as we expected, so we'll need to continue to adjust and adapt," he said.
Allen also told employees Intermountain's leadership was sorry "to everyone who's felt anxious during this process."
"We're sorry for any discomfort you've experienced, and we appreciate your perseverance, your patience, and your continued work to help us do the right things for our patients," he said.