projo.com | Providence

WESTERLY -- Seven people were laid off at Westerly Hospital on Thursday as part of a series of ongoing cost-cutting measures, hospital spokesman Nicholas Stahl said Friday. None of the people were involved in patient care.

"We have been, in the last several weeks, working on expense reductions and this was a final necessary move," Stahl said yesterday. "We were concerned about running in the red if we didn't take some actions."

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The 125-bed community hospital has already eliminated 16 positions through attrition over the past few months. The hospital employs 700 people, including part-time employees.

Stahl said hospitals in the region have been struggling to keep their budgets in balance, in part because fixed costs such as insurance and utilities keep rising.

Hospitals have also had a harder time getting third-party reimbursements on time.

Westerly Hospital has not had a problem with demand, Stahl said, adding that more patients have used the facility in the past year than the previous one.

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