UPMC to lay off 200 mostly non-medical employees
The hospital network said the move is part of a normal internal reassessment.
By JOSH EWERS
TribLive
UPMC is laying off 200 mostly nonclinical employees, hospital officials confirmed Tuesday.
A spokesperson for the $34 billion health system — the largest private employer in Pennsylvania — noted the layoffs amounted to a minuscule fraction of its 100,000 employees.
UPMC said the move was part of a regular internal reassessment to match service with patient needs.
No information was provided about why the layoffs were occurring, when they would become effective or what facilities they would affect.
UPMC also declined to reveal details about compensation packages other than to say terminated workers would get enhanced severance pay and benefits.
There was no indication whether further layoffs could be on the horizon.
In 2024, UPMC laid off more than 1,000 employees citing “post-pandemic challenges.”
The new cuts come at a time of robust financial health for the hospital system.
Last year, UPMC’s operating income hit $286 million after two years in the red, rebounding from operating losses of $339 million in 2024 and $198 million in 2023.
The swing into positive territory was bolstered by a $68 million boost in the insurance services department on the strength of higher income from Medicaid, longterm care and mental health services programs.
Revenue grew to $34 billion last year from $30 billion a year earlier. Admissions rose to 375,000 from 364,000.
A union official called for investment as opposed to cuts in light of those numbers.
In a statement from the union representing workers at UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital, Michelle Hart, a neonatal nurse practitioner, called on UPMC “to invest in, rather than reduce, our staff.”
Hart said UPMC’s cuts will also eliminate 300 open positions, though that number was not confirmed by UPMC.
“UPMC cannot continue to prioritize branding, construction and executive compensation over investing in frontline staff,” said Hart, who is with Magee Nurses and Advanced Practitioners United, SEIU Healthcare PA.
In recent years, UPMC has also been reworking its facility profile.
In 2024, the hospital system sold off five skilled nursing facilities and more last year, reducing the number of beds to 6,500 from 6,900.
Last month, UPMC agreed to a deal to acquire Trinity Health System, a four-hospital network based in eastern Ohio. That deal is expected to be completed pending regulatory approval in the fall.
Also in May, a report from consumer watchdog Public Citizen, identified three UPMC hospitals in southwestern Pennsylvania that were at risk of closure due to Medicaid cuts: UPMC Mercy, UPMC McKeesport and UPMC Greene.
Just this month, the health network opened the doors to a $85 million heart institute expansion at UPMC Children’s Hospital in Lawrenceville.
Among UPMC’s employees are more than 5,000 doctors across 40 hospital facilities and 800 clinical facilities in Pennsylvania, New York and Maryland.
