MD Anderson Cancer Center.

Photo by Zareshk

The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, in Houston, plans to eliminate about 1,000 jobs, or 5 percent of its 20,000-person workforce,  in the face of  big operating losses.

MD Anderson officials said  800 to 900 workers will be laid off, and an additional 100 to 200 jobs  cut through retirement and attrition, according to the Houston Business Journal. But the  cuts will not affect any physicians.

“We primarily focused on those areas where we could make staff reductions, re-engineer administrative support, and not impact quality of patient care,” officials said at a press conference.

The job cuts were expected to save MD Anderson about $120 million a year.

MD Anderson acted after it reported a combined $102 million operating loss for September and October and a $9 million operating loss in November. The hope is that the cuts can save MD Anderson about $120 million a year.

MD Anderson’s financial troubles began in early 2016 with a new Epic EHR system, whose implementation has turned out to be much more expensive and otherwise difficult than expected.

Still, MD Anderson officials said its long-term financial health looks strong:

“We are innovating to develop novel care-delivery models, adopting enabling technologies and diversifying revenue streams. MD Anderson will be here for patients and their families today, tomorrow and long into the future.”

To read the Houston Business Journal story, please hit this link.