WORCESTER, Mass. (AP) — UMass Memorial Health Care is laying off about 150 people and selling two units that employ up to 750.
The moves are an effort to find $50 million in budget cuts and new revenue in the face of increasing competitive pressures.
UMass Memorial chief executive John G. O'Brien tells the Telegram & Gazette (http://bit.ly/w5g7lE) Wednesday most of the layoffs will come at the University, Memorial and Hahnemann campuses in Worcester.
The company is selling a laboratory operation employing 400 to 600 that serves doctors outside the UMass Memorial hospitals. It's also marketing a home health and hospice business employing about 150.
The $2.5 billion health system employs about 13,500 and includes five other hospitals in central Massachusetts.
It had a $27.9 million surplus in its 2011 fiscal year, down 67 percent from 2010.
___
Information from: Telegram & Gazette, http://www.telegram.com