Mar 20, 2009 12:53 pm US/Eastern
Doctors Pitch In To Save Jobs At Beth Israel
BOSTON (WBZ) ―
Some doctors in Boston are opening their wallets to help avoid layoffs.
13 department heads at
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center have donated a total of $350,000 to save jobs at the hospital.
They're asking about 1,100 doctors affiliated with Beth Israel to do the same.
$27,000 PAY CUT
A hospital spokesperson confirmed to WBZ that each of the department heads donated $27,000 from their annual pay.
Dr. Mary Ann Stevenson, the chief of Radiation Oncology, told WBZ the decision to take a pay cut came very easily,
"Many of the staff have been here as long as we have, have grown up with us and now it's our turn to stand by them," she said Friday.
"Everybody's feeling the pinch and we know that and I think it's appropriate the pain is shared. Everybody's going to feel it."
"JUST SO BLESSED"
Nancy Salmanowich is one of the nurses who could have been laid off.
"I think it's unbelievable and it just further supports why we're all here to take care of the patients," she said.
"We're just so blessed and lucky to have people who allow us to do that."
CEO'S SACRIFICE
This isn't the first time B.I. employees have made a sacrifice to save jobs.
Recently, the hospital announced it was facing a $20 million deficit for the remainder of this fiscal year and an additional $20 million for next year.
It was looking at 600 layoffs.
Hospital CEO Paul Levy cut his own salary by ten-percent and asked other employees to help save lower wage jobs.
Read: Paul Levy's Blog "Running a Hospital"
The move saved all but 150 jobs.
Now, this group of doctors is hoping to make up that gap.
"HARVARD HOSPITAL WITH A HEART"
"I couldn't do what I do everyday without everybody in this department. We want to keep that quality. We want to keep that atmosphere and we need to keep everybody here," said Dr. Stevenson.
"The hospital is always referred to as the 'Harvard hospital with a heart' and I think we run like that everyday."
Beth Israel is not facing the fiscal crisis alone.
Other hospitals across the country are also facing deficits, with lower Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements and the overall downturn in the economy people are putting off elective surgeries.
Final decisions on layoffs are expected next week.
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