Jul 16, 2002 By Christine Haines 3 min read

REDSTONE TWP. – A small number of Brownsville General Hospital employees are facing shortened hours due to reduced patient numbers at the hospital. The hospital issued a brief release Monday.

“Because of recent decreases in patient admissions to hospitals due to managed care and changes in third party reimbursements, inpatient volumes have been dramatically reduced nationwide. Reacting to local decreases in patient volumes, Brownsville General Hospital has realigned staffing in several departments,” the release stated.

Karen DeiCas in the hospital’s public relations department, said the average daily census at the 109-bed hospital for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2001 was 59.12 percent, while the average census for the 2002 fiscal year was 48.97 percent.

William Jackson, chairman of the hospital’s board of directors, said the board fully supports the realignment to bring costs under control in light of the reduced patient count.

“We’ve done some surveys and we don’t get a very high percentage of our local business. If we have a problem, we’d like people to let us know,” Jackson said.

DeiCas said the action Monday will not result in any job losses.

“There will be no lay-offs. We cut back hours. It will only affect the OPEIU (Office and Professional Employees International Union,” DeiCas said.

The reduction in hours will affect both full-time and part-time employees, but won’t affect all of the departments staffed by OPEIU members. The OPEIU members at the hospital include registered practical nurses, nursing assistants, clerical employees, housekeeping, dietary staff and maintenance workers.

OPEIU Local 471 president Lynn White said there are approximately 190 OPEIU members, with eight to 10 members affected by the staff realignment, primarily in the housekeeping and maintenance areas.

“It’s because of patient census. We don’t have any patients in-house. We’re depending on the community to support us. They need to come to our hospital, it’s an excellent hospital,” White said. “I’ve had comments from people I’ve referred to the hospital say it was like being in a private clinic.”

White said she doesn’t expect the cutback in hours to last long, if community support for the hospital picks up.

“When our census picks up, these people will be right back to their regular hours,” White said.

White said the cutback could affect the benefits for some full-time employees whose hours are reduced.

She noted that one reason for the reduced census is a reduction in elective surgeries at the hospital due to low blood supplies. She asked that the community show up to support a blood drive at the hospital this Friday.

The registered nurses at the hospital are represented by the Brownsville Nurses Association, a Health Care Pennsylvania State Education Association affiliate.

“We are just the RN staff and there has been no change in the RN’s hors to the RN staffing,” said BNA president Denise Seman.

There are approximately 60 full-time and part-time registered nurses at the hospital. Seman said it was her understanding that no employees directly related to patient care would have reduced hours.