Carney cuts include managers, nurses

Hospital trimming 55 jobs as it awaits consultant's report

A Caritas Carney spokeswoman said 15 of the 55 positions would be eliminated through attrition. (Pat Greenhouse/Globe Staff/file 2006)

Caritas Carney Hospital has cut 55 jobs as it awaits a consultant's report that could lead to other major changes at the community teaching hospital.

The cuts come in spite of increasing patient volumes that have put the Dorchester hospital's performance ahead of its financial projections for the current fiscal year.

The positions affected span many categories, including managers, nurses, and secretaries.

"It's shocking, and it's very sad," said Jane Connelly, chair of the bargaining unit that represents about 200 nurses that belong to the Massachusetts Nurses Association. "Our numbers of surgical patients are way down. Others are fairly good. We're in pretty sad shape, building-wise and equipment-wise."

Margaret Carr, a Caritas Carney spokeswoman, said 15 of the 55 positions would be eliminated through attrition. The hospital will have about 860 employees after the cuts.

"We're seeing small increases in our overall patient base and our psychiatric admissions in particular," said Carr. "We need to make adjustments to the areas that aren't growing."

The job cuts were first reported in yesterday's Boston Herald.

In 1996, Carney became part of the six-hospital Caritas Christi Health System, which is owned by the Archdiocese of Boston. Since then, it has suffered from a lack of investment and strategic focus. The hospital has also struggled because it serves a large population of low-income patients, many of whom do not have private health insurance. As a result, Carney relies heavily on payments from Medicare and other government programs, which usually reimburse at lower rates than private insurers. In addition, the hospital specializes in mental healthcare, which traditionally has lower payment rates compared with other types of medicine.

In the previous fiscal year, the hospital lost about $2 million, despite a state grant of $4 million and a $6.7 million cash infusion from other Caritas Christi hospitals. According to its current plan, it will break even in this fiscal year after receiving state funding.

Earlier this month, Attorney General Martha Coakley released a report recommending that Carney abandon its longtime role as an acute-care hospital - one that treats many serious cases. The hospital should instead become a mental health facility that retains an emergency room and some other specialty services, such as cardiac care, the report said.

Caritas Christi and Carney officials haven't responded in detail to Coakley's suggestions. They said they are awaiting a report from the chain's own consultant, Wellspring Partners. It is expected at the end of April.

Jeffrey Krasner can be reached at krasner@globe.com.