SPRINGFIELD —Baystate Health is laying off 117 corporate employees and has closed its central warehouse in Holyoke in what the company calls a “difficult step” to try and drive greater efficiency for the health care company, which serves more than 800,000 people throughout New England.
“This week, Baystate Health has taken another difficult step in driving greater efficiency across our health system by reducing roles in our corporate functions workforce,” Baystate spokesperson Heather Duggan said in a statement.
In the statement, Duggan said the layoffs amount to less than 1% of the company’s workforce and that individuals impacted have been notified with compassion, and provided with support resources.
“We have made decisions that have impacted people’s employment at Baystate, our remaining co-workers, families and friends and the communities that we serve,” Duggan wrote. “Baystate Health and its leaders are approaching them with focus, intentionality, and through the lens of our Mission and Values as well as with empathy, respect and transparency as we understand these decisions are impactful.”
Duggan said that during the past six months, Baystate has been moving to a “just-in-time delivery approach” to modernize its supply distribution model, aiming to improve efficiency, minimize inventory waste and storage space. As a result the hospital closed its central warehouse in Holyoke on Jan. 31.
At the same time, Duggan said “today, we face ever increasing headwinds.”
Those headwinds are a combination of a large and growing demand for care by individuals serviced by government payors such as Medicare and Medicaid, and workforce challenges such as rising costs for supplies, drugs, technology and other essential services, Duggan says.
Other factors include the expiration of enhanced Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies, and cuts to Medicaid funding, eligibility, enrollment and provider rates, and shortfalls with the state’s Healthcare Safety Net (HSN) fund and other reimbursement barriers, Duggan says.
However, Duggan said that since November 2024, Baystate has made meaningful progress to create greater financial stability allowing reinvestment in “our people, technology and patient care.”
Last year, Duggan said that Baystate met budget expectations for the first time in six years. This allows for better capital investments that aim to address clinical needs and to grow the company’s health care system as a whole.
“We continue to actively recruit physicians, advanced practice providers, nurses and clinicians in response to the growing health care needs across our communities,” she wrote.
Along with the reduction, Duggan said Baystate will now outsource clinical, biomedical engineering to Indiana-based, TRIMEDX, a medical equipment management organization. Duggan said this will allow the hospital to expand resources, technology and operational efficiencies to better serve clinicians and patients.
“Our clinical engineering team will transition to TRIMEDX employees starting in May 2026,” she wrote.
On the company’s website, it says, “TRIMEDX helps healthcare providers transform their clinical assets into strategic tools, driving reductions in operational expenses, optimizing clinical asset capital spend, maximizing resources for patient care, and delivering improved safety and protection.”
“We remain committed to building a thriving and vibrant future for Baystate Health, including Health New England, and health and health care in Western Massachusetts,” she said.