MGB CEO’s Vague Letter Deepens Staff Anxiety Amid Layoffs

Mass General Brigham chief executive Anne Klibanski told the health system’s roughly 85,000 employees that it faces financial challenges and must make changes. Her email, sent late November 2, offered no specifics about workforce changes or programs and did not mention the layoffs the system began in October 13 days earlier.

Klibanski said decisions should draw on evidence and input from people closest to the work, with fewer bureaucratic barriers. A leader of a union of MGB primary care doctors said the vague message was creating fear and distrust. Another primary care doctor said they worried more work could be shifted onto their field.

The system has confirmed that Mass Eye and Ear will stop general pediatric inpatient admissions by January 1, with affected pediatricians offered other positions. MGB also plans to shrink its Home Hospital program, which has averaged losses of $30 million a year over the past three years. It is expected to eventually treat no more than 30 patients, down from capacity for 70 in August 2024. The changes would mean job losses, though MGB said it would seek other roles for affected clinicians.

MGB has not disclosed how many workers have been laid off or how many cuts are planned. A system executive said the total will depend on savings from cuts and consolidations over the next two years. Meanwhile, Brigham and Women’s nurses have scheduled another strike to begin November 12.