Mercy To Begin Furloughs In Wake Of COVID-19

Mercy Hospital System is expected to furlough and even lay off multiple employees due to the COVID-19 crisis.

These furloughs plan to go through July if needed, and it will include all their hospitals in their four state service area.

During these furloughs, health insurance will be continued, with the addition of 80 hours of pay through the hospitals crisis PTO fund.

Along with the furloughs, the Hospital will be eliminating many entry level positions in all departments across its systems.

Through these layoffs, Mercy says they will provide severance packages for co-workers and their families.

In addition, all leaders across the hospital system will earn up to 26 percent less than what they made in 2019, with the most significant cuts being from top management.

All co-workers 401K/ 403B service contributions will not be matched through 2020, and the hospital says annual merit increases may also be delayed.

In a statement, Mercy told News 9 in part, "Our hearts go out to those impacted by these changes and the unprecedented impact of this global pandemic."

At this time, Mercy could not give exact numbers on how many people would be furloughed or laid off. However, they do say any hiring during this time will have to be approved by top level management.