One popular institution is cutting Atlanta healthcare jobs.

Saint Joseph’s Hospital of Atlanta Inc. has announced its plan to get rid of 50 jobs, or about 2.5 percent of its workforce, blaming a need for the cuts on a deteriorating economy.

The major Atlanta hospital confirmed it will achieve about 20 of those cuts through attrition and the rest through involuntary layoffs, according to an article by the Atlanta Business Chronicle. Saint Joseph’s decision to tighten its belt, industry insiders said, is not unique as the nationwide healthcare sector is struggling with a rising volume of unpaid medical bills.

The Saint Joseph’s layoffs will primarily concern management workers as well as some administrative staff, spokeswoman Lynn Peterson said in the article, while clinical staff will not be affected.

“We’re just like every other employer in Atlanta,” Peterson said. “We’re suffering the exact same stresses in the demand to reduce expenses and cut costs.”

People are putting off elective surgeries, she added, and higher insurance co-pays are pushing people not to have some procedures.

According to the United States Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta area’s education and health services industry employed 263,600 workers during September 2008, up from 261,200 during August and an increase of 2.9 percent from last year.

This entry was posted on Friday, October 31st, 2008 at 10:38 am and is filed under jobs, Healthcare. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.