This story was originally produced by The Keene Sentinel. NHPR is republishing it in partnership with the Granite State News Collaborative.
Cheshire Medical Center took steps this week to eliminate its inpatient rehabilitation center and cut 12 positions to balance its operating budget.
In a statement Friday, Dr. Joseph Perras, CEO and president of the Keene hospital, said the Farnum Inpatient Rehabilitation Unit will stop taking new patients. Most of the unit's 39 employees have been reassigned, he said, but five have been laid off. Cheshire Medical also eliminated an additional seven administrative and leadership positions.
The 20-bed inpatient unit, for patients who have had surgery, injury or disease that affects mobility, will close its doors at the end of October, a Dartmouth Health spokesperson said on Friday. Current patients will be able to complete their treatment at the unit, according to Perras.
"We have been in communication with other area hospitals that provide inpatient rehabilitation services and are committed to making the transition as smooth as possible for our patients," Perras said in the statement.
He said the move will not affect outpatient rehab services at Cheshire Medical Center.
These changes will help the hospital control its operating expenses, Perras said, as the unit has had a low occupancy rate and the expenses of keeping it open have become "unsustainable."
"Over the last 6 months, we have been sharply focused on a financial turnaround strategy to help us overcome substantial losses and work our way back to a breakeven operating margin," he said. "We are a not-for-profit, mission-driven organization, and we need to have a positive margin in order to invest in our clinical services, employees, and infrastructure for the benefit of our patients and the public."
In the fiscal year that ended June 30, Cheshire Medical Center had a nearly $3 million loss from operations, but that was down from roughly $8 million the previous year, according to its most recent statement on the Electronic Municipal Market Access, a database with financial disclosures of certain entities.
News of the closure comes on the heels of a round of layoffs at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon last week. That Dartmouth Health affiliate eliminated 124 positions and cut 303 vacant positions to curtail its operating expenses.
