The Boston Medical Center laid off 119 employees as part of an "efficiency push" meant to deal with significant monetary losses, according to a statement from the hospital on Monday.
"The hospital is projected to lose $175 million this year due to dramatic changes in Medicaid reimbursements," said Tom Traylor, BMC's vice president of federal, state and local programs, in the statement.
Traylor called the layoffs a "necessary element of addressing the hospital's financial situation."
"We have been talking to the staff about this new reality for well over a year, and have been working to assess and increase efficiency in every corner of the hospital," he said.
"We have been consulting with outside experts to study the efficiency of delivery of patient care, and they found very little excess capacity particularly in terms of hospital staffing levels."
BMC notified its employees on Friday about the layoffs, which will take effect on Oct. 1, according to the statement.
Forty-four nurses, 30 management staff members and four LPNs were laid off, but an additional 40 employees will have hours cut from their schedules, the statement said.
BMC employs almost 6,000 people, the statement said. Over 1,500 of its employees are nurses.
BMC, the primary teaching affiliate hospital for BU, is "the largest safety net hospital and largest 24-hour Level 1 trauma center in New England," according to the School of Medicine website.
However, this isn't the first time BMC has had to layoff staff members. In 2008, it laid off 250 workers due to state budget cuts and payment reductions for services.
As a result, it saved $10.5 million but had to reduce services and access to certain clinics and administrative areas.
Veronica Turner, Executive Vice President of 1199SEIU, the union that represents many of the workers, accused the state of Massachusetts of falling short of its duty to health care.
"Patient care access is suffering because the state has failed to provide fair reimbursement for care and its management is not effectively communicating with staff about a plan for the hospitals future," Turner, who is also a former BMC employee, said in a statement to The Boston Globe.
"In order to save the hospital, the state must present a solution to the funding crisis and BMC management must include its staff in forming a real plan for the hospitals future."
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