Baystate Health Eliminates Another 43 Jobs

SPRINGFIELD — Peter Banko, president and CEO of Baystate Health, today announced that, as part of an ongoing “transformation” at the healthcare system, another 43 jobs will be eliminated, on top of the 7% reduction in the overall workforce that has been implemented since last fall.

In a prepared statement, Banko said the positions eliminated were “selected to minimize impact to direct patient care.” There was no further information on where the cuts will be made.

“This week we will complete one of the most disruptive components of our transformation journey in FY25 — reducing our workforce,” said Banko. “Since November 2024, we have had to make some very difficult decisions to reduce our workforce in total by 7%, and while this directly impacted a significant number of our team members, 60% of the total reductions were realized through attrition, a gradual reduction through resignations or retirements with elimination of those positions by not filling the vacancies.

“Even with this ongoing focus and disciplined approach to attrition, we did have to make the difficult decision to eliminate positions within Baystate Health this week, and as a result, 43 individuals will be leaving Baystate Health,” he went on. “Individual discussions with those impacted will be completed no later than Friday, May 2.”

Eligible team members who are not transitioned to another position in the organization will receive severance pay and other job support, including access to career transition services, he said. “We deeply understand the profound effect these transitions have on our people, their families, and our community as the anchor employer in Western Mass. We continue to aggressively recruit, hire, and retain physicians, advanced practice providers, and bed-side caregivers.”

Banko stressed that Baystate’s transformation is ongoing.

“Since launching our core operations improvement journey in October 2024, we are seeing meaningful and measurable progress — both in the success of our transformation efforts and, most important, in our progress toward long-term consistent and predictable financial resilience,” he noted. “In late February, we met with the Fitch Rating Agency — one of the “Big Three” nationally recognized rating organizations designated by Wall Street — and they affirmed our A+ credit rating with a negative outlook. The rating came as a timely, objective affirmation that Baystate Health continues to be a very high-credit-quality health system with a strong capacity to meet all our financial commitments.

“The rating also attests to the decisions we have made and the new processes we have established regarding our organizational structure, streamlined decision-making, management spans and layers, the efficiency and effectiveness of corporate functions, contract and premium labor, and external spend,” he went on. “The transformation workstreams to date — coupled with a busy respiratory season and increased emergency department volume and surgical throughput — has resulted in four consecutive months of positive operating margin and cash flow for the health system. I am so proud of a true team effort — all our incredible caregivers — individually and collectively contributing quickly to turning the corner toward a renewed, healthy, growing, and independent future for Baystate.

“We have more work to do to achieve sustainable financial transformation and re-invest more than $1.2 billion in our people, services, and technology over the next six years,” he continued. “We are currently actively working on redesigns in supply chain, pharmacy, and revenue-cycle management. This summer, we will start planning for FY26 by focusing on the physician enterprise (Baystate Medical Practices) and care management (including acute length of stay management) across the enterprise. At the same time, we will initiate an intentional implementation of Baystate Health 2030 (our new strategic plan) to grow our hospitals and service lines, integrate Health New England, and more supportively engage, retain, and develop our employees.”