Scripps Health Plans For Layoffs: Report

SAN DIEGO, CA -- San Diego-based Scripps Health, which has five hospitals in the region, said this week it will layoff some of its 15,000 employees in the new year. The announcement was made in a memo to employees and reported by the San Diego Union-Tribune.

The Union-Tribune said the announcement comes as the company "missed its annual budget by $20 million last year for the first time in 15 years."

Chris Van Gorder, the CEO, told the newspaper the "cuts are necessary to remain competitive in a health care world where health insurance companies increasingly consider low prices as a main factor in contracting and patients are more often shopping around for services as deductibles increase."

The company was founded in 1924 by Ellen Browning Scripps.

--Photo courtesy of Scripps Healh