Baystate Health Launches Voluntary Separation Program Amid Financial Pressures

3/24/2020 Springfield- Baystate Medical Center. (Don Treeger / The Republican)

Baystate Health, one of the largest employers in Western Massachusetts, has announced a voluntary buyout program for employees in non–direct-patient-care roles across the system and its subsidiary, Health New England. The move comes as Baystate cites mounting financial pressures tied to a recently passed domestic policy and budget bill, which leadership says has created new challenges for health-care operations. 

With a workforce of 13,000 at Baystate and roughly 400 employees at Health New England, the organization is turning to buyouts as a way to reduce costs while attempting to minimize impacts on patient care and frontline clinical staff.