Kaiser Permanente Hawaii is cutting 15 more jobs as it reorganizes operations in an increasingly competitive market.
The state’s largest health maintenance organization eliminated 20 management and nonunion positions last week in an effort to streamline operations.
The latest round of layoffs includes 11 full-time and four part-time union and nonunion workers, the positions of whom weren’t specified. The HMO, with 226,461 members as of June 30, has roughly 4,400 employees in Hawaii.
"To ensure our ability to meet the challenges ahead and manage our staffing according to the needs of our members and patients, we need to adjust our staffing," Sharon Thomson, Kaiser’s vice president, said in a statement. "We are continually looking at ways to operate more effectively and efficiently, so that we may continue providing the right care at the right time and at an affordable price for our members. In an increasingly competitive marketplace and an uncertain economy, this work is more important than ever."
The company said it is still seeking to fill more than 125 vacant positions— roughly half of which are union jobs — and encourages the laid-off workers to apply.
Kaiser said it will provide severance based on years of service, as well as outplacement services for employees not hired in another position within the organization.
The company reported a $200,000 loss in the second quarter, its most recent earnings report, reversing gains of $2.8 million in the year-earlier period.
The HMO said earlier this year that the loss was due in part to more West Oahu residents turning to the emergency room at Kaiser Permanente Moanalua Medical Center and Clinic in the wake of the December closure of Hawaii Medical Center-West in Ewa. Increased use, especially by uninsured or underinsured in the emergency room, can result in lower profits for Kaiser when it does not get fully reimbursed for expenditures.
Meanwhile, Kaiser is being sued by the Queen’s Medical Center for more than $4 million and other, unspecified punitive damages for allegedly underpaying the hospital for caring for its members after a contract expired that allowed discounted payments.
