NORTHAMPTON — Mass General Brigham announced large-scale layoffs across its entire hospital system on Monday, a move that is likely to affect Cooley Dickinson Hospital in Northampton.

Senior officials at MGB stated Monday that the layoffs, the largest in the organization’s history — although they didn’t say how many jobs would be lost — would be primarily for management and administration-related positions, rather than clinical and patient-facing roles. Officials said the layoffs were necessary to address a projected budget gap of around $250 million the nonprofit hospital system faces over the next two years.

An MGB spokesman did not comment on how the cuts would affect Cooley Dickinson, but stated that the layoffs would be across all hospitals run by the nonprofit. The organization employs 82,000 people systemwide, with 2,100 of those in the Cooley Dickinson network in the Pioneer Valley region.

“I do not have specific information to share beyond that these actions are across the entire Mass General Brigham system,” wrote Michael Morrison, a senior director of external communications for MGB.

Another MGB spokesperson said the decision is necessary despite years of promoting a culture of responsible resource stewardship and developing initiatives that generate diversified sources of revenue.

“We recognize the impact that this difficult decision will have on our impacted employees and Mass General Brigham is providing market competitive severance packages and benefits coverage to them,” said Jennifer Street, MGB senior vice president of communications.

In an email sent across all health care institutions in the MGB system, CEO Anne Klibanski said the organization faced “unrelenting pressure” to be able to provide health care services in a financially sustainable way, adding that the nonprofit needed to take “definitive action now” to maintain stability.

 

This reorganization will improve efficiency, simplify decision-making and empower staff with more direct access to leadership. Importantly, it will allow the hospital system to continue with planned and future investments in support of its patients and mission, and to improve the lives of clinicians and researchers.

 

According to data from the state’s Center for Health Information and Analysis, Cooley Dickinson reported a $17.5 million surplus at the end of fiscal 2023, the most recent year available, with $262.8 million in revenue against $245.3 million in expenses. The hospital has been affiliated with Mass General Brigham since 2013.

The Northampton hospital is currently undergoing an expansion of its Emergency Department. Once completed, the $26 million expansion will increase the size of the department by 40% and will increase the total capacity of patients from 26 to 38. The new department also will increase accommodations for patients with mental health issues and add a new CT scanner.

MGB’s announcement on Monday comes on the heels of recent layoffs at Baystate Health. In November, the region’s largest health care provider said it would eliminate 134 leadership positions as it continues to recover from more than $300 million in operating losses over the past few years.

The Springfield-based organization announced last week that it was cutting another 98 corporate positions from Baystate’s workforce of 13,000, officials said.

Alexander MacDougall can be reached at amacdougall@gazettenet.com.