West Plains, MO. – Since yesterday morning, there have been a few rumors floating around about lay-offs and job eliminations surrounding Ozarks Healthcare, and an official announcement has been released to the public as of just before 5pm yesterday.
In this public address, Ozarks Healthcare has stated that they have reduced their workforce by roughly a number of 130 full-time positions. Out of this 130, 30 were said to be vacant positions, and another 30 were said to be reduced from being full-time to being part-time positions. They have cited that this round of layoffs and reduction of staff is due to inflation, and that they will be restructuring further to decrease expenses.
Tom Keller, the President and CEO of Ozarks Healthcare went on record to state “Our mission has always been and will remain to provide exceptional and compassionate care to all we serve and we are deeply committed to that mission… This means we must take the difficult steps and measures to meet these challenging times so we can ensure our financial stability.”
The official press release from Ozarks Healthcare can be read below.
Ozarks Healthcare (OZH) announced today that the 64-year old healthcare organization reduced its workforce by approximately 130 full-time equivalent positions due to inflation. Thirty of them were vacant positions with another 30 positions changing from full-time to part-time. Additionally, Ozarks Healthcare is restructuring throughout the organization to decrease expenses.
According to Becker’s Hospital Review, healthcare organizations across the United States have laid off more than 40,000 people within the first 7 months of 2023 siting inflation and higher cost of labor as the culprit.
“Our mission has always been and will remain to provide exceptional and compassionate care to all we serve and we are deeply committed to that mission,” Tom Keller, Ozarks Healthcare President and CEO, said. “This means we must take the difficult steps and measures to meet these challenging times so we can ensure our financial stability.”
