St. Rose hospitals cut nursing jobs
Dignity Health-St. Rose Dominican Hospitals will trim about two dozen nursing positions as part of the effort to reduce the cost structure.
According to a hospital statement issued on Monday, the nurses primarily deal with case management or belong to a floating pool that rotates people among different departments, such as oncology, pediatrics or orthopedics. Instead, according to the statement, decentralizing these functions to individual departments “allows for better utilization and consistency” of staffing.
According to St. Rose spokeswoman Katie Grey, all of the people will be allowed to reapply for nursing openings, which generally run from 60 to 80 positions at any given time. Desi Murray, director of the Catholic division of the California Nurses Association, described the job cuts as “25 and counting. From what we understand, it could go up to 40.” The association is the union that represents the nurses.
As a result, he said St. Rose should “cease hiring until such time as these people get jobs in the same location and the same shift.”
St. Rose, with three hospitals in the south valley, has posted mixed financial results following the pattern of recent years. According to statistics collected by the state, the de Lima and San Martin campuses posted a combined operating loss of $24.1 million during the first three quarters of 2013. The Siena campus showed a $24.4 million operating profit.
San Francisco-based Dignity Health, St. Rose’s parent company, showed a net income of $812 million during the fiscal year that ended June 30. It owns 38 facilities in three states, mainly California.
Tim O’Reiley can be reached at toreiley@reviewjournal.com or at 702-387-5290.
