Dive Brief:
- A Pennsylvania health system, Crozer-Keystone Health System in Springfield, Pa., has announced that the 250 layoffs it's making include some physicians.
- Observers are now wondering whether physicians -- who are seldom at risk -- could be losing their jobs elsewhere.
- With healthcare layoffs on the rise, physicians may become a target. After all, in 2012, 29% of physicians worked directly for a hospital or for a practice at least partially owned by a hospital.
Dive Insight:
It's hard to tell whether the layoffs in Pennsylvania are a statistical blip or a real threat for your average employed doctor. For what it's worth, the Pennsylvania layoff announcement seems to be a unique one. The only situation similar to this was last year, when the Cleveland Clinic had 26 clinicians accept a buyout offer extended to less than 200. But with a U.S. health system undergoing some massive changes, physicians may indeed get laid off from jobs in larger numbers. If so, it won't be pretty.