As revenues plunge, St. Francis Hospital parent announces layoffs, more furloughs

Photo | HBJ File St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center has banned most visitors.

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By Matt Pilon

Facing an expected revenue decline of $2 billion this year because of the COVID-19 crisis, the Michigan-based parent of Trinity Health of New England, a four-hospital regional health system anchored by St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center in Hartford, says it is laying off staff and enacting other cost-cutting measures.

Trinity Health Corp., based in Livonia, Mich., disclosed the measures to its bondholders on Monday, which it said will include “additional colleague transitions, including position eliminations and severances, extended or new furloughs, and extended or new reductions in schedules.”

The company, which operates more than 90 hospitals in more than 20 states, did not give specific numbers and also did not disclose how its New England health system, or “ministry,” which provided about 10% of the company’s overall $19.29 billion worth of operating revenue in its 2019 fiscal year, would be impacted by the cuts.

A spokesperson for Trinity Health of New England did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday morning.

“These decisions are being customized across the system based on the related circumstances, including volume growth projections and the cost and revenue challenges in each market,” Monday’s investor disclosure said.

Trinity and most other Connecticut health systems, faced with a freeze on elective procedures that have since begun to thaw as the coronavirus wanes, furloughed or reduced hours for some staff as the COVID-19 peak approached several months ago.