Jefferson Health and Lehigh Valley Health Network plan to lay off 271 workers.
Two separate rounds of layoffs are not tied to the merger that closed in August, representatives from Jefferson and Lehigh Valley said. The combined system includes 32 hospitals and more than 700 locations. The layoffs amount to roughly 0.4% of the combined workforce of 65,000.
Related: Jefferson Health, Lehigh Valley Health close merger
A January Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification filing said 171 Jefferson workers will lose their jobs on March 10.
The Philadelphia-based health system is "transitioning a limited number of non-patient-facing administrative functions to an external partner to enhance efficiency," a Jefferson spokesperson said in a statement. The spokesperson did not provide details about the external partner.
In addition, a Lehigh Valley spokesperson said the organization plans to lay off about 100 employees. The Allentown, Pennsylvania-based system has "made some changes in areas that provide outpatient care to align the staffing structure with community needs and ensure operational efficiency," the spokesperson said.
Restructuring began prior to the Jefferson-Lehigh Valley merger, the spokesperson added. The spokesperson did not specify when layoffs would occur.
Jefferson Health’s 2024 financial statement for the period ended June 30 does not include Lehigh Valley financial data. Thomas Jefferson University, owner of Jefferson Health, reported operating income of $1.3 million on revenue of $10 billion in 2024, compared with an operating loss of $78.6 million on revenue of $9.7 billion in 2023.
Lehigh Valley reported operating income of $16.5 million on revenue of $4.49 billion in its fiscal 2024 ended June 30, compared with operating income of $10.4 million on revenue of $4.13 billion in the prior fiscal year.
