• Charleston Area Medical Center Health System, one of West Virginia’s largest hospital systems, plans to eliminate 300 positions by the end of 2017
• CAMC is a fantastic healthcare provider, large employer and great community partner to all of us here in southern West Virginia
• CAMC employs about 7,000 people
• Dave Ramsey, the hospital system’s CEO, announced the job cuts in a seven-minute YouTube video on Wednesday
• I thought his directly sharing the message in a video was a great way to clearly share the facts, address the issues and concerns, and outline the solutions
• It’s worth a watch to see really a good example of clear communication in a challenging situation

“Regrettably, there is no end in sight for West Virginia’s economic situation, poor reimbursement from governmental insurance, rising cost of drugs and technology, the nursing shortage and the cost of caring for government-insured patients, he said

Ramsey also said that “commercially insured patients now make up only 17 percent of our patients, down from 20 percent of our patients in 2012,” a $50 million decrease to CAMC’s bottom line – He noted that, when the Affordable Care Act was passed, Medicare reimbursement rates decreased to pay for Medicaid expansion.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qp-s6fTFR7I