LEWISTON — St. Mary’s Healthcare System laid off at least 31 employees effective Monday, according to St. Mary’s news release. Patients and staff members have expressed frustration about the lack of notice they received before being told of the decision ahead of the Christmas holiday.

The decision comes as the hospital system has sustained operating losses over the last five years, according to the press release. There has been a decline in patient volumes and revenue, along with increasing supply and labor costs. It has been hit hard by workforce challenges and employee turnover.

St. Mary’s has reported millions of dollars worth of losses from operations in the last four years among its hospitals and practices, according to Covenant Health Chief Communications Officer Karen Sullivan. It lost $2,115,000 in 2019, $13,579,000 in 2020, $8,707,000 in 2021 and $48,052,000 in 2022, she said. The hospital system is expected to end this year with a negative operating margin again, according to the hospital system’s press release.

“This decision was not made lightly,” St. Mary’s President Cindy Segar-Miller said in the press release. “It reflects the seriousness of our financial challenges and our desire to protect our community and employees from even deeper, more painful cuts in the future. These changes have touched all levels and many areas of our health system, including team members in top leadership positions.”

In addition to the employees that were laid off, some staff were asked to transfer to other positions, while some were asked to reduce their work hours, according to the press release. The hospital system will provide severance pay and extend health coverage through the severance period for eligible employees. There were minimal changes to employment positions working directly with patients.

Michael Hladik of Lisbon had no notice from the hospital that his caseworker was laid off Monday, he said. He was supposed to meet with his caseworker Tuesday and was not informed by the hospital system that she had been let go until he called St. Mary’s officials.

He was receiving case management services through a program within the hospital system that served HIV patients, which helped him seek medical assistance, along with fuel and heating assistance, he said. Now, he is unsure of where he will go to get those services and he is concerned that other people who he knows in the program do not have the ability to travel long distances for services.

He feels that the hospital system could have planned the terminations better, he said. “They’ve just cut people off and there’s nothing for these people until they move,” he said. “They didn’t plan this at all. … Just canceling the program with no notice, no letter, no nothing.”

The financial loss figures in this story have been updated with additional information from officials at Covenant Health, which owns St. Mary’s, and reflect the losses experienced by St. Mary’s hospital and its practices.

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