Austin Healthcare Jobs Cut with Seton

The largest charitable hospital in the area is planning to cut more than 100 Austin healthcare jobs.

Seton Family of Hospitals recently announced that it would eliminate about 150 positions, 74 of which are vacant and 77.5 of which of which are currently held by 120 part-time and full-time employees.

None of the positions slated to be cut involve direct patient care, and Seton is working to find displaced employees jobs elsewhere in the system, as there are currently 200 open positions. Some of the 120 employees affected will only see reduced hours.

According to an article by the Austin American-Statesman, the company is being forced to cut positions because it has been taking care of more patients who don't have insurance or who can't afford to pay their bills.

Seton currently employs 11,500 workers and is one of the largest private employers in Central Texas. The system provides the most charity care in Central Texas, totaling $281 million during 2008.

Seton hopes the job cuts will help reduce the system's 2011 budget by 5 percent. Other measures to reduce the budget will include reducing hours for some services and consolidating others.

The last major round of layoffs at Seton took place during June 2008 when the company eliminated 93 positions. However, most of those employees were placed in other positions with the company.

Aside from the news of Seton's layoffs, the healthcare industry in the Austin area has continued to thrive as of late, adding positions over the month and year.

The Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos area's education and health services industry employed 84,600 workers during February, according to the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics. This is up from 83,500 workers during January and a 3.3 percent increase from last year.