Delta hospital laying one-fifth of staff, cutting services
by Gwen Dilworth, Mississippi Today
Greenwood Leflore Hospital will permanently lay off 86 staff members and close several service lines beginning this week, according to officials and first reported by The Greenwood Commonwealth.
“Staffing levels and services are being reduced as the hospital prepares for either a transition of operations to a larger health system or a potential closure,” according to a document the hospital provided Mississippi Today.
The public hospital, which serves an area of the Mississippi Delta with limited access to health care and is jointly owned by the city of Greenwood and Leflore County, has faced serious financial challenges for years, warning repeatedly that its fragile condition could force it to close. Officials have said the hospital is exploring options to sell, lease or transfer the facility to a larger health care system.
Mississippi Today previously reported that the hospital and its owners signed a letter of intent in February to discuss a possible transaction in which the hospital would contribute all land, facilities, assets and operations to the University of Mississippi Medical Center, the state’s only academic medical center, or its affiliate. The proposed donation would include clinics, ancillary facilities and physician practices, and it would give UMMC full authority and control over the hospital.
It is not the first time the hospital has discussed a potential agreement with the state’s largest public hospital system. UMMC and Greenwood Leflore Hospital entered into discussions about a possible partnership in the summer of 2022, but negotiations fell apart.
Rep. Sam Creekmore, a Republican from New Albany and chair of the House Public Health and Human Services Committee, said that as recently as last week, he encouraged the Greenwood hospital and UMMC to move quickly in their discussions to avoid layoffs, which could make it more difficult to transfer ownership of the hospital and keep the facility open.
“It was evidently clear to us that there was a time frame and it was short, and once these people start getting laid off or once the hospital closes it is hard to get these employees back,” Creekmore said. “I’m disheartened to hear that they’ve laid off these people, but I understand it.”
Creekmore said he did not know if discussions between Greenwood Leflore Hospital and UMMC about an agreement are ongoing. UMMC spokesperson Patrice Guilfoyle declined to comment.
The layoffs, most of which will occur immediately, include 46 full-time staff members and 40 part-time positions. A small number of employees will be temporarily retained to support the transition and continuity of care for active patients, and about 425 employees will remain to provide essential services after the layoffs, the hospital said.
The hospital’s Wellness Center and After Hours Clinic will close immediately, and the Outpatient and Cardiac Rehabilitation clinics will close within 15 days. Additional departments across the hospital will also face immediate reductions in staff.
The hospital will continue operating other departments, including emergency medicine, neurology, diagnostic testing, surgery, swing bed and retail pharmacy services.
No decisions have been made about the buildings tied to closed services. Future use will depend on ongoing negotiations with a larger health system, officials said.
Laying off staff members, though unfortunate, was a step that had to be taken in order to keep the hospital open, said Greenwood City Council President Ronnie Stevenson. He said he hopes that employees will be rehired if the hospital is taken over by a larger facility.
Stevenson said the layoffs will also have a devastating impact on the city’s economy.
“It’s going to definitely increase our unemployment rate, which has already gone up,” he said. “It’s going to hurt economic development, hurt our economy … not just in Greenwood but surrounding areas.”
Greenwood Mayor Kenderick Cox declined to comment.
The hospital’s financial hardships have spanned years. Before the COVID-19 pandemic began, the hospital was losing up to $9 million a year, Gary Marchand, the hospital’s former interim CEO who now serves as a consultant for Greenwood Leflore Hospital’s board, previously told Mississippi Today. To keep its doors open, the hospital shut down departments and clinics, went up for lease multiple times, drew down millions of dollars in credit, applied for grants from the state Legislature, and pursued a more lucrative hospital designation. In 2023, the hospital suspended the use of 173 beds to control costs, according to an audit.
Hospital leaders warned several times in the past year the facility was on the brink of closure due to a dispute with Medicaid over repayment of debts the hospital owed. The debt stemmed from overpayments from a program designed to support struggling hospitals.
A Hinds County Chancery judge in March ordered the Division of Medicaid to temporarily stop collecting money owed after the hospital said resuming the recoupments would likely force the Delta hospital to close, ordering the hospital to post a $50,000 cash bond within 30 days. The hospital submitted a notice that it filed the bond on March 26.
Marchand wrote in a March court filing that if the Division of Medicaid were to resume the recoupments, it could have severe consequences for the hospital and jeopardize its ability to complete negotiations over a potential lease, sale or transfer of the facility.
If the recoupments resume, “the likelihood of successfully completing these negotiations will be irreparably harmed,” Marchand said, pointing to the importance of staff remaining at the facility and the continued maintenance of property and equipment.
Lawmakers also sought to pave the way for a possible transfer of the hospital during the legislative session by allowing it to file for bankruptcy. State lawmakers hurried Senate Bill 3230 through the legislative process, and it became law without the governor’s signature on March 16.
The hospital has not yet filed for bankruptcy, according to federal court records.
Other legislative efforts to support the hospital failed. Such measures included those that would give hospitals more time to settle overpayments during times of financial hardship and outline the terms for a potential sale of the hospital, backed by a proposed $10 million state appropriation.
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today.
Photo: Greenwood Leflore Hospital via website