After emerging from bankruptcy a week ago, Green Valley Hospital has laid off about 60 employees and has undergone a name change.
Now Santa Cruz Valley Regional Hospital, the facility also is operating under a new CEO, Kelly Adams.
Adams, who started as the hospital’s chief executive Monday, said the employees were laid off this week in a “reduction in force†that leaves the hospital with about 250 employees.
The job cuts were needed to restructure the company as it reorganizes under its Chapter 11 bankruptcy plan, he said.
“That’s part of our business plan, to right-size the company then grow the business,†Adams said.
Adams, a partner in Utah-based ERH Healthcare, said his firm was hired by the hospital’s owner, Lateral Investment Management, to manage and restructure the operations as it emerged from bankruptcy. ERH specializes in turning around community hospitals.
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Adams said the hospital will look to add services and refine its marketing to persuade more residents in the Green Valley-Sahuarita area to use the local hospital instead of traveling to ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥.
He said all of the layoffs were related to the hospital’s financial restructuring, adding that he met personally with every affected employee as they were notified Monday and Tuesday.
“It’s a sensitive time for the company,†he said. “Every one has been a valuable employee, and we look forward to the time we can rehire them, sooner rather than later.â€
Green Valley Hospital opened in June 2015 with 49 beds, providing full-service general acute care to the Santa Cruz Valley, including Green Valley, Sahuarita, Tubac, Nogales, Sonoita and Amado.
Lateral Investment Management, a private California-based credit and growth equity investment firm, provided interim financing for the hospital while it was in bankruptcy.
Green Valley Hospital announced the Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing in early 2017, saying the debt was the result of a number of factors, including “turmoil and financial mismanagement†in its early days. Additionally, officials said a hospital assessment imposed when the state expanded its Medicaid program in 2014 had been a financial burden.
Residents of Green Valley, home to many retirees, and its neighbors in the rapidly growing Sahuarita area, had for years wanted a hospital before the current one was built near Interstate 19, south of Continental Ranch Road and northeast of Canoa Ranch Drive.
Before the facility was built, the area did not have a hospital or emergency room, and residents had to travel about 30 minutes by car to get to an ER.
Contact senior reporter David Wichner at dwichner@tucson.com or 573-4181. On Twitter: @dwichner. On Facebook: