Prisma Health lays off more than 300 employees, company says

Prisma Health is laying off more than 300 employees, the company said Thursday.

The total number of laid-off employees is 327, which is about 1% of its 32,000-employee workforce, according to a press release.

Since October 1, a total of 527 positions have been eliminated, either through layoffs, unfilled vacancies or consolidated positions, the release said.

“The health-care environment in which we operate is becoming increasingly challenging for a variety of reasons, including lower reimbursements and increasing numbers of patients who are underinsured or uninsured,” Prisma Health CEO Mark O’Halla said in the release.

“While we remain fundamentally solid, we will continue to streamline the organization and make it more efficient, while also making investments in growth and expansion to meet the evolving needs of our patients and the communities we serve,” O’Halla said. “This is the new normal for us and all other successful health-care organizations.”

Prisma Health was formed after Midlands-based Palmetto Health and the Greenville Health System merged in November 2017 to create the largest health system in South Carolina with 13 hospitals. The nonprofit has 18 hospitals and more than 300 physicians serving more than 1.2 million patients.

Columbia Mayor Steve Benjamin said he spoke with O’Halla on Thursday morning. Benjamin said in a text message that his two major concerns were that the quality of care is not affected and that the Midlands would not be disproportionately affected by the layoffs, something he said company leaders had promised.

“It’s not clear to me if this commitment is being met,” Benjamin said. “I look forward to continued dialogue.”

Prisma Health spokeswoman Tammie Epps would not say what number or percentage of layoffs affected the Midlands. Rather, she said the layoffs affected people from throughout the company, “including administrative, corporate and clinical areas across all campuses.”

In January 2019, Prisma Health laid off 70 people, Epps said.

Emerson Smith, a University of South Carolina assistant professor who studies the health care industry, said he wasn’t surprised by the news.

“There was an expectation they would reduce the number of employees and also the number of beds,” Smith said.

“There’s a lot of duplication between Greenville and Columbia,” he said.

It’s unclear whether the cuts could affect care, but “any change can affect care,” Smith said.

Though employment in the health care industry is expected to grow by 14 percent between 2018 and 2028, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, there has been a movement away from inpatient care because of how expensive it is, Smith said.

Prisma Health operates several Midlands hospitals, including Prisma Health Richland, Prisma Health Baptist, Prisma Health Baptist Parkridge and Prisma Health Tuomey in Sumter.

In May, O’Halla was named president and chief executive of Prisma Health.

O’Halla took the helm of the system from then co-CEOs Michael Riordan, former CEO of Greenville Health, and Charles Beaman Jr., former CEO of Palmetto Health.

This story was originally published January 16, 2020 at 1:39 PM.