GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — The recently formed Beaumont Health and Spectrum Health system has announced its cutting hundreds of jobs.
MiBiz reported that the healthcare system has eliminated 400 positions across the state in a move to address rising costs that have been hitting the healthcare industry hard this year.
The cuts will affect non-clinical, administrative positions, BHSH said. The move comes amid major midyear losses at Beaumont Health in southeast Michigan and lower earnings at Spectrum Health West Michigan.
Mark Sanchez, a senior writer at MiBiz, looked at recent data about whether or not hospital mergers ultimately save money.
“There’s a lot of debate out there on whether healthcare mergers cut costs. There have been some studies, most recently by the American Hospital Association, actually a couple of years saying it does lead to some optimization and it does lead to lower costs,” Sanchez said. “But there’s been many other studies that have said, not necessarily, it does not lead to lower administrative costs and in some cases can lead to higher pricing.”
Sanchez also said the difficulties in Michigan have been playing out across the U.S. health care industry.