Prisma Health plans further restructuring to streamline operations, position for future growth

GREENVILLE, S.C. — Prisma Health officials announced today that they are taking additional measures to improve operating efficiencies and streamline the organization.

“The health-care environment in which we operate is becoming increasingly challenging for a variety of reasons, including lower reimbursements and increasing numbers of patients who are underinsured or uninsured,” said Mark O’Halla, president and chief executive officer of Prisma Health.

“When we formed Prisma Health 26 months ago, we began integrating and consolidating functions to gain the benefits of scale and to remove costs from the organization. We have already eliminated duplicative executive management positions, restructured leadership, and gained significant cost savings in supplies, technology and other areas. We are taking steps to ensure that everything we are doing – both clinical and non-clinical – is delivering quality and value. As part of this ongoing work, we have identified a number of additional expense-reduction strategies, many of which impact our workforce. These are difficult decisions, but we need to make them now so we can provide the quality care our patients deserve in a financially sustainable manner that positions us for future growth opportunities.”

After careful consideration, Prisma Health is eliminating 327 staff from a workforce of 32,000. Since October 1, management has already eliminated 200 positions through attrition, vacancies and consolidation, for a total of 527 positions. The 327 team members will be notified beginning today that their positions are being eliminated. Areas affected span the organization, including administrative, corporate and clinical areas across all campuses. Prisma Health is providing the affected team members with severance pay and outplacement services. Affected staff also will have the opportunity to apply for open positions across the organization.

Additional changes to select services include Prisma Health Greenville Memorial Hospital’s 15-bed Subacute Unit, which will be phased out in March, and the Children’s Residential Program in Greenville, which will be phased out in April. Patient populations treated in these programs have a number of other local options, and Prisma Health is taking the steps necessary to ensure that there is minimal disruption to patient care during this transition.

“We’re committed to building a stronger organization, where patients will experience consistent, high-quality care, regardless of which Prisma Health location they choose for care,” O’Halla said. “At Prisma Health, the patient is at the center of everything we do. While we remain fundamentally solid, we will continue to streamline the organization and make it more efficient, while also making investments in growth and expansion to meet the evolving needs of our patients and the communities we serve. This is the new normal for us and all other successful health-care organizations.”

About Prisma Health
Prisma Health is a not-for-profit health company and South Carolina’s largest private employer. With nearly 32,000 team members, 18 hospitals, 2,984 beds, and more than 300 physician practice sites, Prisma Health serves more than 1.2 million unique patients annually. Its goal is to improve the health of all South Carolinians by enhancing clinical quality, the patient experience and access to affordable care, as well as conducting clinical research and training the next generation of medical professionals. The organization was formed in late 2017 when Greenville Health System and Palmetto Health came together, officially becoming Prisma Health in January 2019. For more information, visit PrismaHealth.org.