Northwest Community Healthcare in Illinois has another round of layoffs

Northwest Community Healthcare plans to cut 110 positions, resulting in a 3% reduction in the Arlington Heights, Ill., hospital system's workforce.

The elimination of full- and part-time jobs, announced Wednesday, marks the second time this year the beleaguered system, which is anchored by Northwest Community Hospital, has reduced its headcount. Northwest in March announced it was eliminating 104 positions — though a spokesman said Friday that only 78 workers were affected.

“We will continue to meet the challenges of the changing health care landscape by reallocating resources and cutting unnecessary costs, while providing the high-quality care that our patients and community expect,” CEO Bruce Crowther said of the most-recent reductions in a statement.

The layoffs are part of a restructuring that includes expanding outpatient services, according to a news release.

Northwest plans to develop new outpatient facilities in Arlington Heights, Palatine and Schaumburg next year, and it is scheduled to open a physical therapy office in Mount Prospect in 2013, as well.

The system has struggled for years with falling inpatient admissions and has not posted an annual operating gain since 2008.

Yet, it posted a $5.5 million operating gain during the first three quarters of the current fiscal year, compared with a $5.7 million operating loss during the same period in fiscal 2011. The results cover the period from Oct. 1 through June 30. Northwest's fiscal year ends on Sept. 30.

For the fiscal third quarter, which ended June 30, the system's operating income improved on stronger revenue and lower expenses, but the system still saw large bottom-line losses due to poor investment results.

The system's total revenue for the fiscal third quarter rose 2 percent, to $124.1 million, from $121.6 million during the same period in 2011, while total expenses fell about 2 percent.

Those results helped Northwest swing to an operating gain of $3.3 million during the quarter, compared to an operating loss during fiscal third-quarter 2011. But Northwest was hit by $9.3 million in investment losses for the quarter, which meant that overall expenses exceeded total revenues by $6.3 million.