Baystate Medical Center
Republican file photo
SPRINGFIELD — In an effort to cut costs, the largest employer in Western Massachusetts, Baystate Health, has announced that it is offering severance packages to some of its 1,300 employees who opt for “voluntary separation.”
Baystate Health operates hospitals, specialist clinics and primary care offices, including the flagship campus at 759 Chestnut St. in Springfield, Baystate Noble Hospital in Westfield, Baystate Wing Hospital in Palmer and Baystate Franklin Medical Center in Greenfield.
The Baystate Health system serves 800,000 people throughout the Pioneer Valley.
In a Nov. 14 press release, Baystate Health stated that the employee buyouts were an effort to “sustain our momentum through continued financial transformation.” It cited “rising labor costs, inflation and reimbursement challenges” as factors in its decision. It also called out the federal One Big Beautiful Bill, passed in July, for “creating additional headwinds for health systems across the country.”
The separations will affect Baystate Health and its subsidiaries, including Health New England, but the company stated that the positions being targeted by the voluntary separations were “non-direct patient care areas.” Rather, Baystate said it is recruiting and hiring physicians, advanced practice providers and bed-side caregivers.” The company did not clarify which programs or departments would be affected but did state that it would affect Baystate Health and its subsidiaries, including insurer Health New England. Health New England serves 160,000 members in central and Western Massachusetts, and northern Connecticut.
Baystate stated that the voluntary separations were an effort to “minimize the need for other workforce reductions.” Reminder Publishing reached out to Baystate Health to inquire if there would be layoffs if the necessary number of voluntary separations were not achieved. The company declined to comment.
The separations are part of a larger workforce reduction effort, which begun when Peter Banko took the helm as president and CEO of Baystate Health in June 2024. One year ago, 134 jobs were cut, followed by 98 in February. Another 43 people were let go this spring. The personnel moves are a reaction to the company hemorrhaging money in the past few years. Baystate’s profit margin in fiscal year 2024 was -6%, reflecting a $146 million loss, according to the Center for Health Information and Analysis. The company previously stated that it lost $300 million between 2021 and 2023. Over the past decade, it has closed urgent care centers and Baystate Mary Lane Hospital in Ware.
While visiting the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts in Chicopee on Nov. 17, Gov. Maura Healey discussed Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” and Baystate Health Announcing Voluntary Separation Program to Support Transformation Efforts.
“As an administration, we are really focused on making sure that people of Western Massachusetts have access to health care,” Healey said. “We know how important that is, and they need to have access to affordable healthcare. I’m not up to date of all the details of what Baystate has just announced, but my team and I will stand ready to work with them on anything that can be done to protect access to healthcare.”
She continued, “I don’t know about particular workers or what’s been proposed, but we do know this, that what happened this summer with the ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ takes a huge amount out of healthcare. In fact, it takes a trillion dollars out of health care.”
Healey said that the state’s delegation, U.S. Rep. Richard Neal, and others did not vote for the bill due to the funds eliminated from health care.
“Unfortunately, the president signed that bill, and we know the consequences of that,” Healey said. “We know that they’re going to be real hits to Medicaid. There are going to be real hits to community hospitals, to hospitals in regions like Western Massachusetts, whether you’re talking about Hampden or Franklin or Hampshire or Berkshire, that bill is going to hurt people and have a really negative effect, and that’s something that we are trying to work through right now as an administration.”
