On Friday, December 8, White-Wilson Medical Center notified employees of a company downsizing. As part of the reduction, 36 employees were impacted.
- Eliminated positions were in areas of business operations such as coding, insurance and call center or remote positions, according to WWMC.
- No clinical positions or positions directly tied to patient care were impacted.
In White-Wilson Medical Center’s 77-year history, this is the second reduction in workforce, according to the Center. The first of which took place in April 2020, during the height of the pandemic, with the majority of positions being furloughed in light of declines in demand.
WWMC says the recent reduction was made in an effort to reduce costs.
“Negatively impacting an employee is never an easy choice, but in this case, we found that we had to restructure certain business functions to protect our ability to provide care to our patients and our community,” said White-Wilson Medical Center Chief Executive Officer Dr. Kenneth Persaud. “We’re committed to helping our impacted employees navigate this time and have a process in place to offer them resources and support.”
While the layoffs impacted approximately 8 percent of the company’s workforce, Persaud assures that plans are in place to continue investing in bringing health care services to the area.
- “The economics of health care are really challenging right now, but the demand for care is great,” he said. “I am confident that by reevaluating how we do things we will be able to emerge from our economic challenges better positioned to invest in increasing access to care for our community.”
White-Wilson Medical Center is home to more than 80 health care providers, and according to the One Okaloosa Economic Development Council, one of the 10th largest employers in Okaloosa County.
11 Responses
This is a shame. We left White Wilson for a number of reasons. But layoffs mean businesses don’t manage their business well. Oh….thats one of the reasons we left. When you layoff support staff, the clinicians have a harder time providing quality care.
I’ve used W.Wilson since 1970 as a child & our company on Base used them & now retired I sometimes still go there & I think it’s a Shame What they have done & feel terrible for the family’s & during the Holidays & in such desperate times & the way it went down I heard they were told & Givin a few Hours to clear out there belongings & for some that job has been 10 15 yrs.a Life time of dedication & Loyalty & they did them like that, when it’s evident Greed & Piss Poor Management are to Blame & the Buck was passed & the Good workers paid the price, while company Dropped Them Like a Bad Habit.. Sickening.. Just below this article I see where two or three Doctors are Retiring I, Wonder if there’s Any Connection ??
Layoffs of support staff rarely go unnoticed, and I’m sympathetic for the horrible news 36 people and their families received days before Christmas. For the last 3 years, many businesses have taken drastic steps such as closing their doors, downsizing, raising prices, and reducing the quality of their services because of the higher cost of doing business. Everyone suffers when the economy stinks. Prayers go out to all the staff and their families as they navigate these tough times.
My question would be. Was there an effort to look at the company to look at a reduction in hrs throughout for a while to weather the storm, because eliminating positions is going to be more work on someone else.The company still has to keep up with demand. I’m quite sure patience demand is still the same if not increasing. Looks like to me all in all its the people that need the care are going to get the short end. If the positions were not needed the the positions should have never been implemented. Looks like bad management to me. Reduction of hrs and stay within full-time benefits is my vote.
I may have already been impacted by this when recently i had to go through a company in Texas to get copies of medical records from WWMC. I was charged almost $10.00 and waited for more than a week to receive these records. In the past I could go to the office and get these records. the reason i needed them was because WWMC no longer has an opthtomoligisr and i’m transferring to another one. Seems I shouldnt have had to pay for these transcripts under these circumstances.
Merry Christmas everyone; I guess bonuses are out too,,,
Laying off the insurance coders means the drs will have to do the coding themselves on those computers they bring into the exam rooms. So expect drs to get behind everyday. Your wait time will be extended while drs look for the correct codes. Probably going to get a lot of rejected claims too since drs aren’t schooled for coding. This is a bad move for an already failing system.
They are most likely outsourcing insurance claims.
Medical records was also included in the layoffs.
Sounds to me like the powers to be just need bigger yachts and planes.
Change is needed for growth. Things that are done wrong or inefficiently must be fixed. Restructure and a new way of doing business changes, that hopefully lead to more opportunities for others.