OHSU layoffs will mostly affect staff in ‘communications, marketing and other services’

Jashayla Pettigrew
·2 min read

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — New details on the looming layoffs at Oregon Health and Science University show the health system will remove 516 positions, which accounts for about 2.7% of its total staff.

OHSU’s Finance & Audit Committee met on Friday morning to discuss its current financial standings for Fiscal Year 2024 and the proposed budget for the following fiscal year.

Portland police release driver stop stats after 2-year traffic division hiatus

The committee presentation outlines the workforce reductions occurring as part of the “Strategic Alignment” process that was announced to employees earlier in June.

Of the 516 job cuts, 373 are layoffs among the “full-time equivalent positions.” However, 410 employees will be impacted as some of them work part-time.

Nearly 125 employees in the affected group earn between $50,000 and $75,000 each year. Those who earn between $75,000 and $100,000 are the second-highest group in the layoffs, with less layoffs among those with higher salaries.

Oregon has the highest pollen count in the US. Here’s when allergy sufferers could see relief

“The largest percentage reduction occurs in communications, marketing and other services within the Chief of Staff / Chief Administrative Officer areas, including positions previously funded from the Healthcare budget,” the Finance & Audit Committee wrote.

According to OHSU, the remaining 143 cuts involve full-time positions that have been vacant.

Thus far, the “Strategic Alignment” process has triggered just one Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification — also known as a WARN Notice. The notice showed that 142 staff members at the Marquam Hill campus, OHSU’s largest location, will not have their contracts renewed. They are expected to be permanently laid off on or after Friday, Aug. 9.

The health system still plans to hire more “patient-facing clinical” workers.

5 arrested in plot to smuggle drugs into Multnomah County Jail

Its operating loss 11 months into the fiscal year, which ends on June 30, stands at $64 million. Executives are proposing a $125 million budget for the next fiscal year.

OHSU’s Board of Directors is set to vote on the proposal next week.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KOIN.com.