Kadlec Regional Medical Center's therapy services are cutting staff, as the regional hospital in Richland follows staffing reductions made at other Providence facilities in response to financial pressures. 

The full-time equivalent of 5.5 staff working in physical, speech and occupational therapy are being laid off at the Kadlec Healthplex, hospital spokeswoman Emily Volland told the Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business. 

“These adjustments will allow us to focus our efforts and resources on our core services and our most medically sensitive patients based on age, diagnosis and the availability of alternative care options in the community,” the hospital said in a statement, adding that its leaders “do not take decisions that impact caregivers lightly.” 

Kadlec officials cited cuts to Medicare and Medicaid, delayed reimbursements and denials of coverage from insurers and increased costs from inflation and tariffs as contributing factors to the staff reductions. 

Premium tax credits available to those buying health coverage via the marketplaces created through the Affordable Care Act will sunset on Dec. 31. Efforts in Congress to extend or permanently enshrine the tax credits have not moved forward. 

Providence, which owns and operates Kadlec, has laid off hundreds of employees at its hospitals since this summer.  

In August, 60 positions were eliminated from its Inland Northwest division as it closed DominiCare, its home care service, and the orthopedic physical therapy clinic at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Chewelah, as well as the orthopedic physical therapy clinics at Spokane’s St. Luke’s Rehabilitation Medical Center and Spokane Valley’s Providence Medical Park. 

In September, Seattle Children’s Hospital said it would lay off 154 staff across its operations, including at its Kennewick pediatric clinic, as well as remote workers, with separations beginning Nov. 15. It will also close 350 open positions. 

A recent report from the Urban Institute said hospitals, physicians and other health care providers stand to lose tens of billions of dollars in revenue and face billions of dollars in uncompensated care with the expiration of the enhanced federal subsidies for health coverage.