EASTERN NIAGARA
Hospital lays off 16, closes clinic over state cuts
LOCKPORT — Blaming $1.3 million in state funding cuts, Eastern Niagara Hospital disclosed 16 layoffs Wednesday and said that its Founders Health Clinic in Wrights Corners will close as of June 30.
Spokeswoman Carolyn Moore also said there have been layoffs at the organization’s two hospitals and the nursing home it operates in Newfane.
She said eight people lost their jobs at the hospitals and four jobs were cut at Newfane Rehabilitation and Health Care Center during the first week of June. An unspecified number of jobs at the hospitals were reduced from full-time to part-time, and the hospital decided not to fill some vacant positions.
She did not have a breakdown of how many jobs were cut at the former Lockport Memorial Hospital and how many at the former Inter- Community Memorial Hospital in Newfane. Moore said the layoffs were spread across the organization so as to avoid drastically harming any particular service.
As for the Founders outpatient clinic, Moore said eight of its 15 employees will lose their jobs, while the other seven are being offered jobs elsewhere in the organization.
Moore said primary care medical services at Wrights Corners will be shifted to the hospital’s Ambulatory Care Center on South Transit Road in Lockport. However, dental services will be dropped completely.
In a statement, hospital Chief Executive Officer Clare A. Haar said, “As a result of the New York State budget passed on April 3, Eastern Niagara Hospital will experience an estimated $500,000 reduction in annual revenue. With losses of this magnitude, we could not sustain spending at the current levels and had to seek ways of consolidating some services.”
On top of the $500,000 loss in aid to the hospitals, the nursing home was hit with an $800,000 state funding cut, Moore said.
The budget cuts impacted all hospitals in the state as a result of Albany’s recession-driven budget crisis.
“This was a difficult decision, and we recognize the impact it will have on some patients and staff,” Haar said. “We have an obligation to do what is prudent for the entire organization in order to remain viable for the future.”
“We are striving to maintain the continuity of care for our medical patients and will be assisting dental patients in their efforts to obtain services with another provider.”
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