ST. LOUIS – SSM Health is furloughing approximately 2,000 employees across its four-state health system and is enacting other measures to reduce costs and expenditures.
In a statement released Monday, SSM Health says its workload has been cut in half due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
A corporate spokeswoman says the organization will freeze executive pay, placed a hold on non-essential job hires, and either paused or deferred non-critical expense projects.
The 2,000 employees being furloughed represents roughly five percent of the SSM Health workforce. More employees will be placed on a partial furlough and see a reduction of hours.
According to the spokeswoman, all furloughed SSM Health employees will remain employed and can return at the end of the 13-week furlough period. Some workers could be brought back sooner if SSM Health returns to normal operations. In addition, the furloughed workers will maintain their health benefits through SSM Health.
Once SSM Health resumes normal business, the company will provide a one-time pay adjustment to help those furloughed workers if any employee is not reimbursed by state or federal unemployment programs.
