Posted on: Thursday, December 11, 2003

St. Francis Healthcare to lay off 40 employees

Advertiser Staff

St. Francis Healthcare System of Hawaii has notified the state that it will lay off 40 employees as part of the medical center's restructuring.

The layoffs will take effect Feb. 1-2, the medical center said in a notice to the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations.

Sister Beatrice Tom, St. Francis chief executive officer, told affected employees in a letter that despite the hospital's gains in operations, it "still has not maintained consistency in achieving financial stability."

"For this reason, we are forced to intensify our turnaround efforts in patient services consolidation and work force reduction," she said.

Sixty-day layoff notices went out to the affected employees last week.

Sixteen of the workers are represented by the Hawaii Teamsters and Allied Workers. They include dietary aides, patient service assistants, housekeepers and clerks.

Other workers to be laid off include van drivers, secretaries, support specialists, business analysts, computer operators and a programmer, and a senior vice president.