Louisiana Ochsner Workers Get Bad News Today

Bad news in the medical field for Louisiana today. Ochsner Health System has notified employees in an email that they are laying off 770 workers immediately.

Ochsner is the largest hospital system in the state and one of the largest private employers in Louisiana. This layoff will impact medical facilities from Shreveport to Lafayette, Baton Rouge, New Orleans and many other communities.

Ochsner operates 42 hospitals and more than 200 urgent care and health centers in Louisiana and Mississippi. This layoff is the largest in the history of Ochsner and is about 2% of the company's workforce.

Ochsner CEO Pete November says this layoff will not include doctors, nurses or other staffers who deal directly with patients.

Most of the layoffs will be felt among those who work in management, clerical and administrative slots. These cuts are expected to be spread across all of the hospitals in both states.

None of the Ochsner facilities will be closing. The company is hoping to save close to $150 million by trimming staff.

This layoff was announced in a company wide email sent out on Thursday.

Employees impacted by this layoff will be given 60 days along with a severance package.

KEEL News has reached out to Ochsner to find out how many local workers would be impacted, but have not heard back from the company today.

Ochsner execs did tell other media outlets "today is a difficult day and they won't have any comment right now."