CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Novant Health will lay off about 400 employees as the company redesigns the organization, based on a statement released from the company.
Officials said the layoffs amounted to about 2 percent of the work force. Officials said the organization has worked to standardize processes, which will improve patient quality and safety and achieve financial stability.
Teams will spend the next 45 days working through that process and supporting affected team members in their efforts to find new roles, according to the company.
"At this time, we are working with impacted individuals to match them to open positions within the organization," according to a statement.
Channel 9 spoke to some of the ones who were laid off Monday. They did not want to give their names for fear of their severance pay being revoked.
One nurse said she got a pay raise four days ago before her badge was taken, and she was escorted out. She said many crucial emergency personnel were cut, and there was no notice this was coming.
The husband of one nurse told us on Facebook:
"It is horrendous that they would fire nurses on their unit, because they're already understaffed everyday and have no breaks."
Regardless of Novant's decision to make cuts, Kenny Culbert, with The Employer's Association, said medical jobs are still in high demand. The laid off people will be needed elsewhere.
"Fortunately, the medical field is very good in Charlotte, so I think a lot of people who are medically related will find jobs in their work," said Colbert.
The company said it is recruiting for more than 1,000 positions currently.
Statement from Novant Health
<strong></strong><em>Last fall, Novant Health began a proactive and thoughtful process to redesign the way the organization works to achieve greater operational precision, enhance quality outcomes and help provide remarkable, affordable care for patients. The evaluation was a necessary step to continue to serve Novant Health communities in the future despite declining reimbursements and many other challenges facing the healthcare industry today.</em>
<em>Teams across the organization have worked together to standardize processes which will improve patient quality and safety outcomes, patient satisfaction and achieve financial savings to ensure Novant Health's long-term financial stability.</em>
<em>The organization is financially healthy and strong today. We are creating many improvements that will help enhance patient care and allow teams to work collaboratively and seamlessly across the entire organization.</em>
<em>As part of our redesign efforts, we have identified some positions that will be eliminated from Novant Health. This is an operational balancing of our workforce to meet the demands of healthcare consumers in today's world. Novant Health is actively recruiting for more than 1,000 positions today.</em>
<em>At this time, we are working with impacted individuals to match them to open positions within the organization. Teams will spend the next 45 days working through that process and supporting impacted team members in their efforts to find new roles. Once the reassignment process is over, we anticipate about 2 percent of our workforce will need to find roles outside of the system, equating to up to 400 people.</em>
<em>Overall this process has streamlined Novant Health operations and creates a blueprint for success as the industry continues to evolve. Redundancies have been reduced and standardization in many areas of the organization has been applied.</em>
<em>Efforts will continue in the future to ensure Novant Health finds every best practice and quickly evolves to meet the needs of patients and communities.</em>
WSOC
