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Main Line Health cuts 98 workers this month

Main Line Health, which plans a groundbreaking ceremony Wednesday on a $529 million building and renovation project at its Lankenau Hospital, confirmed Monday that it has laid off 98 employees this month as part of an effort to reduce expenses.

Main Line Health, which plans a groundbreaking ceremony Wednesday on a $529 million building and renovation project at its Lankenau Hospital, confirmed Monday that it has laid off 98 employees this month as part of an effort to reduce expenses.

The layoffs will save the health system $5 million, said Jack Lynch, president and chief executive officer. Among the dismissed employees are 30 managers and two senior executives. The cuts were spread throughout the system, although more than half came from Lankenau and Bryn Mawr hospitals.

Fifteen employees have accepted different jobs in the system, which has 400 openings it intends to fill, Lynch said. Main Line Health, which has 11,000 employees, is still trying to match other affected employees with openings.

The cuts, Lynch said, were "one of the most difficult decisions I've ever made in my career."

Lynch said the system needs to cut costs because of growing pressure from patients, private insurers, and the government. "Health care reform is all about ten words," he said. "Doing more for more with less and doing it better."

He said the building project was "very unrelated." The hospital needs to build a new pavilion and revamp its current facility to prepare for future patient needs. "We really feel strongly that you can't defer maintenance," he said. "You can't put off things that you know you're going to have to do."