Chattanooga: Memorial Hospital lays off employees to trim costs

Thursday, July 26, 2012

photo Memorial Hospital is located at 2525 de Sales Avenue in Chattanooga.

Memorial Health Care System announced layoffs and restructuring plans today, laying off about 70 employees, or less than 2 percent of its workforce, according to a news release.

Memorial President and CEO James Hobson cited the economic downturn and reforms spurred by the federal health care law as reasons for the layoffs.

"Hospitals across the nation are faced with decreasing reimbursement from commercial payers while the number of Medicare enrollees swells," he said in the news release.

"At Memorial we've implemented initiatives to sharpen our focus on the core competencies of the health system and achieve best in class in quality, cost, and the patient experience," Hobson said.

Memorial is a nonprofit hospital owned by Catholic Health Initiatives.