Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital laying off 100 workers

Officials with Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital announced the facility is preparing to lay off more than 100 workers for cost-cutting reasons.

The Valencia hospital said it’s taking “important steps” to reduce expenses, increase revenues and ensure the facility’s long-term financial health.

“Unfortunately, these steps include making a necessary and painful adjustment to our labor force today,” Marlee Lauffer, Henry Mayo’s vice president of marketing and communications, said in the June 12 statement. “The reductions we made have been carefully considered and prioritize patient care.”

Lauffer said the affected employees have shown “tremendous resiliency and dedication” during the COVID-19 pandemic, which made the cutbacks difficult.

The layoffs are effective Aug. 11.

Hospital spokesman Patrick Moody said Henry Mayo, like scores of other hospitals, had to hire additional employees during the height of the pandemic.

“We had to use a lot of contract nurses, and that form of labor is really expensive,” he said. “It put a real strain on our finances.”

Moody said the staffing reductions will affect a variety of departments. He declined to say exactly how many workers are impacted, but said some are represented by the California Nurses Association, while others are affiliated with the United Electrical Workers union.

Moody said fewer than half of the employees being laid off at the 357-bed, not-for-profit hospital are contract workers from outside firms.

“Some of those firms will be reducing their staff who work at Henry Mayo, but some of those staff, instead of being laid off, may be reassigned to other hospitals or (businesses) where those firms also provide services,” he said.

Moody didn’t say how many, if any, of the contract nurses the hospital hired might be included in the layoffs.

Henry Mayo said it employs 1,800 workers.

This week’s layoff announcement comes on the heels of a March 20 unfair labor practice strike held by workers who claimed the hospital has engaged in illegal bargaining tactics as they push for higher wages and increased staffing.

The hospital has disputed the claims.

Those employees, represented by UE Local 1004, picketed the Valencia facility to draw attention to their concerns. The union represents more than 750 patient care attendants, surgery techs, respiratory therapists, radiology techs and others.

Workers said the hospital is experiencing high turnover because of low wages and chronic understaffing — factors they say undermine patient care.

Stacy Suarez, a surgical tech at the hospital and a member of the UE Local 1004, said some of the lowest-paid workers at Henry Mayo earn less than $17 an hour, with management offering to boost that to $17.50.