Miami.

— Photo by Don Ramey Logan

In a sign of the times around America, the University of Miami Hospital, which has 560 beds, has begun  layoffs. It’s part of a major restructuring that includes keeping more patients out of the hospital and sending them to such outpatient facilities as clinics or physician groups.

The hospital, part of the University of Miami Health System,  wouldn’t say how many employees will lose their jobs, The Miami Herald reported.  But Lisa Worley, a system spokeswoman, said  “There are no plans for across-the-board layoffs.”

She added that individuals whose jobs are changed or eliminated will be given the chance to apply for other positions within the system  whenever possible. She said, in what some might see as a paradox, that the goal is to improve patient care at hospital which had about 1,900 employees in 2013, the most recent data available from state regulators.

To read The Miami Herald’s story on this, please hit this link.