KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Children's Mercy Kansas City is furloughing nearly 600 employees due to the financial impacts of COVID-19.
The nonprofit hospital announced Thursday 575 employees will be furloughed for up to 60 days beginning April 26.
In addition to the furloughs, senior leadership is forfeitting portions of their compensation for the 2020 fiscal year.
A portion of that money will go to an emergency response fund for employees and patient families.
In a news release, Children's Mercy said its surgeries and outpatient visits are down by more than 70 percent, with other departments also down dozens of percentage points.
However, "the number of children impacted by COVID-19, thankfully, has been extremely low compared to the adult population," and Children's Mercy has cared for just four COVID-19 patients.
“We are hopeful that once the pandemic abates and the stay-at-home orders are lifted, we will be able to ramp back up to normal activity and continue caring for the patients and families of our region,” Paul Kempinski, president and chief executive officer of Children’s Mercy, said in the news release.
Furloughed employees will be able to file for unemployment.
Children's Mercy will continue to pay their medical and dental insurance premiums.
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