Jackson Health announces pay cuts and furloughs due to coronavirus financial woes
One week after asking non-clinical workers to use their paid leave to help shore up hospital finances sapped by the coronavirus pandemic, leaders of Jackson Health System announced pay cuts for executives and managers and furloughs for other workers who do not provide patient care.
Carlos Migoya, chief executive of Miami-Dade’s public hospital, announced the austerity measures in a memo to employees on Friday afternoon. He said the cuts are needed to help make up for significant financial losses stemming from the coronavirus pandemic.
“Our revenues have been devastated by the cancellation of so much non-emergency patient care, and it’s not clear when federal relief dollars will arrive or whether they will fill the gap,” Migoya said in the memo.
Beginning Sunday, the hospital system’s executive team will take a 20% salary cut “until further notice,” Migoya said. The rest of the management team, which includes those with director titles and above, will take a 10% salary cut.
It is not clear how many executives and managers will be affected by the salary cuts, or how much it will save Jackson Health. But Migoya said the spending cuts won’t stop there. Mandatory furloughs will begin later this month for non-clinical workers, he said.
Depending upon an employee’s role, furloughs may be imposed for up to two days per week for both union and non-union employees, but only for those workers who do not care for patients.
“We will not furlough nurses or physicians because they will be deployed into the crisis response,” Migoya said.
With an annual budget of more than $2 billion, Jackson Health employs more than 11,000 people at hospitals, clinics, nursing homes and jailhouse clinics in Miami-Dade.
In March, Migoya asked employees in support departments and non-clinical roles to voluntarily use paid personal leave over the next few weeks to help the health system manage a financial crunch brought on by canceled elective surgeries and fewer patients.
The coronavirus pandemic, which has led to a statewide stay-at-home order, is also expected to cut into Jackson Health’s tax revenues as bars, restaurants and other non-essential businesses are shuttered due to the pandemic. The safety net hospital system receives about $500 million a year in taxpayer funding through property taxes, sales taxes and general revenue from the county.
