70 Layoffs at Providence Community Health Centers
GoLocalProv News Team
70 Layoffs at Providence Community Health Centers
The layoffs represent nearly 12% of the workforce. PCHC employs about 600.
“These layoffs, while incredibly painful, are an absolute necessity for our long-term sustainability,” said Merrill Thomas, President and CEO of PCHC. “I want to be clear: PCHC has a strong balance sheet, which we purposely built up to withstand challenging times like this. These actions are directed by our Board, which has a fiduciary responsibility to PCHC and its patients. These are difficult but necessary decisions to ensure we are here for the community for years to come.”
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTPrior to these cuts, PCHC was on track to lose $5 million this year. The organization cited the following as the primary reasons for these financial losses:
Medicaid rates have not kept up with inflation and promised relief from the State on these rates has not been delivered. Over the last five years, PCHC’s costs have gone up 30% while reimbursement rates have gone up only 10%. This has created intense financial pressures on PCHC, which relies on Medicaid for 70% of its funding.
The 340B pharmacy program delivered $3 million less than budgeted to PCHC as manufacturers’ restrictions on this long-standing program continue to worsen.
This is the latest hit to the Rhode Island healthcare system.
In recent months:
- Thundermist Health Center announced late last year, it was laying off 124 of its 907 employees. The health center has offices around Rhode Island and serves more than 60,000 residents.
- CharterCARE’s parent company is in bankruptcy. It is the state’s third-largest hospital system, which operates Roger Williams and Fatima hospitals, and is moving towards being acquired by a Georgia healthcare company. That company is attempting to sell $165 million in bonds to finance the deal. And according to financial documents, CharterCARE has lost more than $130 million over the past five years of available financials — 2019 to 2023. In 2023, CharterCARE lost $60 million alone. The total cost of the bonds with debt service exceeds $400 million.
- Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island (BCBSRI) has reported a net loss of $115 million for 2024 after experiencing a nearly 20% increase in health care costs over the past 18 months, the company announced in March. The company also announced a 3% reduction in the workforce, which constitutes 30 employees.
- Anchor Medical Associates, the primary care physician group, announced it would close its offices across the state at the end of June, leaving 25,000 Rhode Islanders without primary care physician services.
- Potentially more disruptive are the changes being made at the federal level by the Trump administration. The ties between Brown University and Lifespan (now Brown Health) are now under the microscope by the Trump administration.
As GoLocal was first to report, the Trump administration “clawed back” $31 million of federal funds from the Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDOH).
Following that, millions of dollars in federal grants awarded by the National Institute of Health (NIH) to the University of Rhode Island, Rhode Island Hospital, and Brown University are being slashed.
"PCHC remains committed to fighting at the state and federal levels for relief. In the meantime, the organization will continue delivering high-quality care to the community as it has for the past 57 years," said the company.