Hospital lays off nearly 50 workers

Posted on April 8, 2020

In response to a significant drop in patient volume, a government-mandated hold on all elective surgeries and declining clinic visits, Doctors’ Memorial Hospital (DMH) has temporarily laid off or reduced the regular hours of nearly 50 employees.

According to DMH CEO Tom Stone, the local 48-bed hospital has furloughed 33 people — some for 30 days and others for up to 60 days – and have reduced the regular hours of another 15 individuals.

“Every department has been affected to some extent.” Stone said, adding, “We will monitor our situation in hopes of bringing them back as soon as possible.”

“A furlough is considered a temporary unpaid leave of absence,” Stone said. “We hope to bring them back. All of their benefits remain the same, they will continue to have health insurance and life insurance.”

Prior to the recent lay-offs, DMH employed a total of 214 individuals locally, with approximately 193 full-time equivalent (FTE) positions, according to Stone.

Stone said the local hospital’s inpatient daily average census in March was down from the prior year, adding that April’s inpatient census was also down so far this month.

“As you know, all elective surgeries have been put on hold by the Governor’s order, which means we stopped surgeries last week,” Stone said.

“This definitely affects our revenue stream,” Stone said. “In addition, our case load in March was much lower because one surgeon (who had a previous commitment to a college sports team) was not available.”

DMH has temporarily shut the doors to one of its three clinic locations, as the Steinhatchee Family Medicine Clinic has been closed after the patient volume dropped down to as few as four patients per day or less over the prior week.

“We went from an average of about 18 patients per day, then it dropped to six for a few days and then down to four,” Stone said.

According to Stone, the DMH Plaza Clinic and DMH’s Family Medicine Clinic in Mayo will remain open at this time.

“Their volumes are also down, but we plan to keep them open at this time,” Stone said.

When asked about the hospital’s capabilities to handle COVID-19 cases in light of the county’s first positive test result, Stone said DMH’s Emergency Department has been using protocols to isolate and place anyone who meets the appropriate criteria in an isolation room.

“They will be evaluated and tested if they meet the criteria. They will be admitted for observation, discharged if appropriate or, if the condition warrants, may be transferred to Tallahassee,” Stone said.

“We have six ICU beds — one of which is the isolation room,” Stone said. “We have two negative pressure rooms (isolation rooms) on the second floor, one in the ICU and one in the emergency room.”

“We have been exploring ways we might be able to increase that number by two more rooms,” Stone added.

“We have three ventilators and three operating room anesthesia machines,” Stone said.

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