LAS CRUCES, N.M. (AP) – Hospitals in southern New Mexico have announced staff cuts and furloughs as they deal with the fallout of the novel coronavirus pandemic.
The Las Cruces Sun-News reports Memorial Medical Center in Las Cruces, New Mexico, announced Monday it would place 125 employees on temporary leave. The hospital says the temporary layoffs affected nearly all departments and will last 60 days.
Hospital officers also will be taking 10 percent salary reductions for the next two months.
MountainView Regional Medical Center and MountainView Medical Group also says it had furloughed employees from departments where hospital services have been curtailed during the pandemic.
The group says 67 of the hospital and medical group’s 1,500 employees will be furloughed.
Both Las Cruces hospitals have been impacted by the prohibition of elective and non-urgent health procedures.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham ordered last month a ban on elective surgeries and non-urgent procedures at New Mexico hospitals during the pandemic to preserve protective medical gear.
