Mass General Brigham, Massachusetts' largest employer, has announced the largest layoffs in the hospital system's history, citing a $250 million budget shortfall.
MGB CEO Anne Klibanski informed employees of the impending cuts via email on Monday. Hundreds of management and administrative positions will be eliminated within the next couple of months.
WATCH ANYTIME FOR FREE
 |
Stream NBC10 Boston news for free, 24/7, wherever you are. |
While MGB has stated that patient care will not be affected, experts David Rosenbloom, professor emeritus at the Boston University School of Public Health, expressed concern that the layoffs could negatively impact patients.
"People who support clinicians but are not necessarily directly involved in patient care make it possible for clinicians to provide good care," Rosenbloom said. "If these cuts add significantly to the stress level and the burnout and workload of clinicians, then they could well have a detrimental impact on patients."
Get updates on what's happening in Boston to your inbox. Sign up for our News Headlines newsletter.
Get top local stories in Boston delivered to you every morning. Sign up for NBC Boston's News Headlines newsletter.
Rosenbloom also questioned the hospital's stated reason for the cuts, suggesting that efficiency, rather than a budget shortfall, might be the primary driver.
"MGB has had an overly large senior administrative staff for a while — they've been hinting that they were going to make changes," Rosenbloom said. "There is an inefficiency to the scale at which MGB operates. There's just no efficiency in these huge-scale operations."
MGB pointed to pressures facing hospitals nationwide, and confirmed that its research utilizes funding from the National Institutes of Health. The Trump administration recently decided to cut NIH funding by 15%, a move that Rosenbloom believes could be contributing to MGB's financial concerns.
"They're going to make believe they are cuts to institutions cutting out fraud and abuse, of which there is plenty," Rosenbloom said. "These cuts are going to hurt people and they're going to hurt us fast."
After attorneys general from Massachusetts and 21 other states sued over the NIH policy change, a federal judge issued a temporary pause on it Monday.
MGB stated that the organization will provide severance packages and benefits to affected employees. The first round of layoffs will begin this week, with a second round expected next month.
