STAT News was provided what it called “unusual access” to internal discussions at Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital as it sought to cut $50 million from its $2.6 billion in annual spending. The dramatic overhaul went so far as to override the choice of hospitals’ nurses on mattress pads.
“This wasn’t about ordinary cost-cutting,” said Ron Walls, MD, COO at Brigham. “It was very clear we had to become a much leaner, more efficient organization.”
It all began with Walls being told by Brigham CFO Christopher Dunleavy that the hospital would be in the red for both the 2017 and 2018 fiscal years. So it began an “unprecedented cost-cutting drive” which included offering buyouts to more than 1,000 employees. More than 800 took them up on the offer, including 7 percent of the nursing staff.
“This is a pivotal moment for academic medicine,” said Brigham president Betsy Nabel, MD. “The nation needs academic medical centers to train the next generation of physicians and scientists and drive discovery and innovation in medicine.”
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John joined TriMed in 2016, focusing on healthcare policy and regulation. After graduating from Columbia College Chicago, he worked at FM News Chicago and Rivet News Radio, and worked on the state government and politics beat for the Illinois Radio Network. Outside of work, you may find him adding to his never-ending graphic novel collection.