The University of Chicago Medical Center (UCM) laid off 180 employees on Thursday, February 1. The move affects fewer than 2 percent of the institution’s 13,000 employees.
In a statement to The Maroon, UCM officials emphasized that the affected positions were mainly administrative.
“The majority of affected positions are not direct patient facing and these changes will not affect the quality of patient care. Affected employees were notified throughout the day on February 1 and are being provided a severance package,” the statement read.
The statement also said that UCM was facing “the same challenges as many other health systems across the country.”
The layoffs follow a trend that has hit other medical centers, including George Washington University and Rush University on the same day. According to Fierce Healthcare News, regulatory changes, the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, and inflation have made recent years extremely difficult for hospitals, with over 100 hospitals announcing major layoffs in 2023 alone.
The move comes after UCM broke ground on a new $815 million cancer care and research pavilion late last year.
