Mass General Brigham Layoffs Continue At Nantucket Cottage Hospital

A second round of layoffs at the Mass General Brigham (MGB) healthcare system was implemented this week, and once again, Nantucket Cottage Hospital (NCH) was not immune to the cuts.

Hospital officials on the island continued to refer all inquiries about the impact and scope of the layoffs to MGB's public relations team. But two sources at NCH told the Current that four staff members at the island hospital were among the layoffs, including employees in financial clearance, nursing administration, and its privacy office.

The first round of layoffs in February included NCH's chief nursing Aimee Carew Lyons, as well as its vice president for community medicine Cynthia Winston, and the hospital's communications manager and public information officer Jeff Coakley.

The layoffs by MGB were the largest in the organization's history and were described as "strategic reorganization" necessary to stabilize the finances of the 12-hospital healthcare system.

“As a not-for-profit integrated healthcare system, Mass General Brigham is facing the same unrelenting pressures affecting many health care systems across the country that are contributing to a projected budget gap of a quarter of a billion dollars within the next two years," said Jennifer Street, a senior vice president in MGB's communications department. "We are acting now to allow us to continue with planned and future investments. As part of our response, we are consolidating certain management and administrative positions throughout the system to enhance efficiency, reduce costs, and maximize support for frontline clinicians. This decision is necessary despite years of diligently promoting a culture of responsible resource stewardship and developing initiatives that generate diversified sources of revenue."

Nantucket Cottage Hospital and Martha's Vineyard Hospital were purchased by MGB (then known as Partners Healthcare) back in 2006. While the small island hospitals have benefited in some ways from the vast resources and clinical expertise of the massive MGB system, they have also ceded control of many aspects of their business and healthcare operations to the corporate owner.

According to The Boston Globe, the total number of layoffs planned by MGB is roughly 1,500 positions out of 82,000 employees, and executives told the publication they are intended to "save at least $200 million annually, or approximately 2 percent of its salary and benefits costs."

Yet, as the Globe previously reported, MGB reported a $45 million margin from its operations, as well as a $2 billion net margin on $20.6 billion in total revenue for the 12 months ending in September 2024.

“We recognize the impact that this difficult decision will have on our impacted employees and Mass General Brigham is providing market competitive severance packages and benefits coverage to them," Street said. "We are grateful for the contributions of these colleagues and the value that all our employees bring to our organization each and every day.”