A “small number” of Banner Health’s Tucson employees will be laid off, company officials said Friday.
The Phoenix-based nonprofit company has 6,400 local employees. It is the largest private employer in Arizona and owns 28 hospitals in seven states.
“Banner is declining to give a number now because it anticipates many, if not most, of these people will find new jobs within the organization in the next 16 weeks,” Banner-University Medicine spokeswoman Katie Riley wrote in an email.
She said most of the jobs that were cut are corporate or administrative positions. No nurses were laid off.
Company officials stressed that Banner’s intention is to improve and grow medical services in Tucson and that it is actively recruiting for a variety of positions. There are more than 180 Tucson job vacancies on the Banner website, for example.
Banner Health moved into the Tucson market March 1 when it merged with the University of Arizona Health Network and became the surviving entity.
It now owns two local hospitals: Banner-University Medical Center Tucson, 1501 N. Campbell Ave., and Banner-University Medical Center South, 2800 E. Ajo Way, in addition to several clinics and a health plan.
The company also formed an academic affiliation with the University of Arizona.
In the merger, Banner guaranteed Tucson employees their jobs for at least six months post-merger.
“This week a small number of Tucson employees learned that their job is changing or will be discontinued over the next few weeks and months,” says the statement Banner released Friday.
“These employees have been assigned to the Banner Career Transition Program, where they will receive assistance in finding another job in Banner Health.”
Those affected will be employed and paid through at least October and some longer, Riley wrote.
The company also said that more than 1,000 Tucson employees will receive raises to bring them up to system-wide Banner pay grades. However, for the majority, there will be no change in work or pay, it says.
“The Banner Career Transition Program has an excellent track record of assisting employees in finding new jobs,” the statement says.
“In last year’s merger of Casa Grande Regional Medical Center into Banner Health, 90 percent of those assigned to the program found another position within Banner.”
