Cleveland’s MetroHealth lays off 125 staff amid financial strain
OHIO, UNITED STATES — MetroHealth, a Cleveland-based health system, is laying off 125 employees in a bid to stabilize its finances after reporting $50 million in operating losses last year.
Erica Carbajal writes in Becker’s Hospital Review that the cuts target administrative roles while sparing patient care, as the system grapples with soaring charity care expenses.
Financial pressures forcing job cuts, hiring freezes
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Dr. Christine Alexander-Rager cited an expanding financial gap, prompting cuts to executive pay, non-clinical hiring freezes, and reduced travel spending.
“We made these decisions in response to significant financial challenges facing our system. Despite your hard work and steady growth in our volumes, MetroHealth’s expenses continue to outpace revenues. And that gap is growing,” Dr. Alexander-Rager writes in the email sent to employees.
The health system’s struggles mirror broader industry challenges, including looming Medicaid cuts under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
MetroHealth, which relies heavily on Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements, now spends over $1 million daily on charity care for underinsured patients.
Dr. Alexander-Rager warned employees of further “right-sizing,” including operational consolidations, to align resources with priorities.
Surging charity care expenses strain safety-net hospitals
Being a safety-net provider, MetroHealth has an abnormally large share of underinsured patients, and the expenses on charity care have increased dramatically over the past few years.
The system is also susceptible to changes in policy, such as upcoming Medicaid cuts, because it is funded by both the federal government and the state.
This financial instability has necessitated a series of hardships, including the decision to withhold executive bonuses and the elevation of clinical roles at the expense of administrative ones.
Hospitals nationwide are coping with these pressures as Medicaid reductions take effect over the next decade. MetroHealth’s cost-cutting process, which involves reducing travel expenses and service spending, underscores the precarious nature of the access-stay-in-business equation.
Anticipating an increase in 2025 losses, the system’s restructuring could set a trend for all safety-net providers.
