As Children’s Mercy launches a $1.7 billion overhaul of its Kansas City campus, the hospital has offered early retirement to an undisclosed number of employees.
Hospital leaders said in a written response to questions from The Beacon that the voluntary retirement offer is unrelated to its building expansion plans, which include a new hospital tower along with plans to renovate existing patient care spaces. The hospital is seeking to borrow $500 million to help finance the expansion but will pay more than $1 billion of the cost in cash.
Children’s Mercy leaders did not specify how many of its almost 9,000 employees are eligible for the early retirement offer or how much money the reduction in staff could trim from the hospital’s $1 billion payroll.
Takeaways
- Children’s Mercy has offered voluntary early retirement to an undisclosed number of workers, but declined to say how many employees are eligible.
- The hospital’s new tower project, including a clinical building, an inpatient tower and a utility plant, along with renovations to existing facilities may cost between $1.3 billion and $1.7 billion.
- The hospital said the project will be financed in part with $500 million in new debt.
Their statement called the retirement program “a thoughtful approach to managing our workforce.” And they said the hospital continues to hire “across the organization, including for roles that support care delivery, access and critical operations.”…