HOUSTON (AP) — One of the nation’s top cancer hospitals, Houston’s MD Anderson Cancer Center, is cutting about 1,000 employees to address millions of dollars in operating losses.
Officials say the reductions, through layoffs and retirements, account for about 5 percent of the hospital’s workforce and will not include doctors and nurses.
During the September-November quarter of 2016, the hospital reported losses of $110 million. Officials say factors include higher insurance deductibles for patients and a shrinking number of insurance companies willing to pay for expensive treatments.
The cuts have been announced the same day the Houston Chronicle reported (http://bit.ly/2jb3eCR ) the University of Texas System, which operates the hospital, gave the cancer center’s president, Dr. Ronald DePinho, a $208,000 performance bonus for fiscal 2016. He says he’s donated it back to the hospital.
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