Memorial Sloan Kettering Layoffs Hit More Than 300 Workers Across UES

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — A top Upper East Side cancer center is in the process of laying off more than 300 workers as a result of a poor economic outlook, according to state records and a hospital representative.

Memorial Sloan Kettering terminated 337 employees in a round of layoffs completed this month, according to a Labor department notice and a hospital spokesperson.

The laid off workers — who represent 1.8 percent of Memorial Sloan Kettering's 22,500 employees — were told of the decision on Jan.17, a spokesperson told Patch.

"This reduction was necessary to ensure that MSK can continue to invest in the future of cancer care, research, and education for the benefit of generations to come," the hospital spokesperson wrote.

"Every effort has been made to ensure that patient care is not impacted."

The employees are not represented by a union, according to the notice.

Memorial Sloan Kettering Layoffs By Location

• Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center at 633 Third Ave: 148 employees
• Inpatient hospital at 1275 York Ave: 127 employees
• David H. Koch Center for Cancer Care at 530 East 74th St: 17 employees
• Lab Med at 327 East 64th St: 11 employees
• Joy Building at 321 East 61st St: 8 employees
• Rockefeller Outpatient Pavilion at 160 East 53rd St: 5 employees
• Mortimer B. Zuckerman Research Center at 417 East 68th St: 4 employees
• Scholars Residence at 1233 York Ave: 3 employees
• Arnold and Marie Schwartz Cancer Research Building at 1250 First Ave: 3 employees
• Outpatient center at 205 at East 64th St: 3 employees
• Evelyn H. Lauder Breast Center at 300 East 66th St: 3 employees
• Memorial Sloan Kettering Clinical Genetics Service at 222 East 70th St: 2 employees
• 303 East 60th St: 2 employees
• Josie Robertson Surgery Center at 1133 York Ave: 1 employee

Pix11 first reported the layoffs in November after obtaining an email from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center President and CEO Dr. Selwyn Vickers.

The layoffs were initially estimated to hit about 3 percent of employees, according to the Pix11 report.

Hospitals have been hard hit by COVID-19, especially specialty centers as patients elected to delay care during the pandemic, as well as broader economic struggles.

Memorial Sloan Kettering reported a third quarter operating loss of $116.1 million, a slight improvement over the previous quarter, in its most recent financial filing from the fall.

"The Institution has just begun to see some patient activity close to pre-pandemic levels," reads the filing. "However, the activities have not increased as quickly as planned."

A huge reduction in federal CARES Act funding also created an $155.5 million financial crater.

Year over year, the adjusted operating loss at Memorial Sloan Kettering increased by over $217.8 million.

In the same filing, Memorial Sloan Kettering reported that a key driver of a 10.9 percent increase in operating expenses — nearly $500 million — was an 8.8 percent increase in compensation, partially due to increased staffing as the hospital previously anticipated an influx of patients that didn't materialize, according to the filing.

An increase in supply costs was also cited as contributing to growing expenses.

Memorial Sloan Kettering's financial troubles are not unique — Becker Hospital Review reports that since 2022, nearly 4,000 hospital workers have been laid off across the country.