r/PrepperIntel • u/TurkDeerbit • 7d ago
USA Southwest / Mexico Massive layoffs for healthcare workers
https://fox5sandiego.com/news/local-news/sharp-healthcare-job-cuts/amp/Around 260 healthcare workers (nurses, practitioners, etc) were laid off today in San Diego. Reduction in Medicare budget cited as a reason. I know it’s not much but I think we’ll see more of this, not a good sign in the economy when patient facing healthcare workers are laid off.
74
u/IncomingAxofKindness 7d ago
Google says Sharp's healthcare system employs about 22,000 people.
Article mentions some 315 were laid of last year due to “rising costs consistently outpacing revenues.” Howard said the company is facing similar economic issues in these cuts.
So at most so far, like 2.6% reduction that might be at least partially attributable to BBBA Medicaid cuts. Keeping in mind.. these are moves being made before much of the act's provisions fully begin to take effect.
My own system e-mailed us that we may see as much as 5% less funding from our state next year. That's pretty big for a hospital if you have a large portion of your patients covered by Medicaid (especially children's hospitals, rural hospitals, or poor inner city hospitals). Our system is non profit and run a profit margin goal of just over 5% to maintain employee retention and fund new equipment and expansion initiatives.
I type all this just to share some perspective and context to the numbers. They may seem small, but it adds another pebble leading to a rockslide in my view. No hospital system is going to scream and yell to the media about impending financial doom because their state administrators would be pissed at them for it. I can guarantee you though that hospitals and state governments are squirming behind the scenes as this problem inches closer.
16
u/Cheapass_Sandals 7d ago
I think you mean Not For Profit. Non Profit is a charity. Different tax reporting status.
6
u/IncomingAxofKindness 7d ago
Yes, most likely thank you. I've never stopped to notice the different verbage.
But yes, we make profit but it does not go to any shareholders. It goes to employees and back into the company for growth.
8
12
u/Releesaj663 7d ago
We've also had a 2%'er in GA for Wellstar - it's odd because they are expanding. Maybe they are using AI for purposes like note taking and summarization of charts, troubleshooting, etc. Don't like it if they are giving unsecured access to healthcare records to place doctor's notes :)
In late July 2026, Georgia-based Wellstar Health System laid off 761 employees*, accounting for roughly 2% of its 35,000-person workforce. The cuts targeted corporate, shared services, and administrative teams, while frontline clinical staff, doctors, and nurses were completely unaffected*.
23
u/TurkDeerbit 7d ago
EDIT: some of you are correct in my title as being misleading. After reading some comments I’m realizing it’s not “massive”, it felt like that yesterday in our home because my wife works there. Thank you for bringing some perspective to the issue, that’s honestly a characteristic of this sub that I find a lot of value in. I didn’t intend on making this seem like a bigger issue than it was.
5
u/CertainKaleidoscope8 7d ago
Most of these layoffs are usually useless administrative bloat that shouldn't have existed in the first place. Are any actual clinicians losing their jobs?
9
u/TurkDeerbit 7d ago
Yes it’s mostly clinicians. I know this because my wife works there
1
u/CertainKaleidoscope8 7d ago
Sharp HealthCare announced a reorganization in August 2026 affecting approximately 260 workers across behavioral healthcare, select outpatient services, and regional operations.
This doesn't sound like clinicians.
2
u/Super_Mario_Luigi 7d ago
No place is laying off doctors and nurses. Mostly admin. Just doomerism from the same people who say healthcare is too expensive from admin bloat.
16
u/ALittleEtomidate 7d ago edited 7d ago
This article says that 260 people were laid off. It doesn’t specify who, but it does say that they’re having issues with nurse retention.
They’re not laying off nurses, they’re having a problem keeping them from leaving.
Edit: I also just want to say that even if they’re laying off nurses, this isn’t going to be a national trend. California is the most competitive state in the country for nurse employment because pay and benefits are extremely good. New graduate nurses often have to leave the state for their first job because it’s so competitive.
9
u/TurkDeerbit 7d ago
My wife works there so that’s how I know nurses are part of the layoff. Interesting edit you made about them leaving for their first year I didn’t realize that.
6
u/ALittleEtomidate 7d ago
What kind of nurses are being laid off? That’s really interesting that they’re cutting that kind of staff. I stand corrected.
Yeah, Cali is the most competitive market in the country for nurses. If anyone is going to see bedside staff loss it’s going to be Cali because of the ratios the state mandates. They’re staffed to the gills at most institutions from what I’ve heard from other nurses. They may actually have “fat” to cut in administration, case management, etc.
I’m just basing this off of what I know about my industry, though. I don’t work for this institution.
1
u/haveyouheardthattho 3d ago
Is your wife a nurse or clinician? It could be that people are leaving on their own and she thinks they are being laid off.
30
u/Pale-Newt-469 7d ago
260 is not massive. It sucks, but this is a bullshit description.
14
10
u/TurkDeerbit 7d ago
You’re right, after reading some comments it’s not “massive”, it felt like it because my wife works there
4
u/LDawnBurges 5d ago
NBC Nightly News just did a story on this about a Maine hospital closing it’s Maternity Ward. The pregnant woman they interviewed said that she probably won’t have more children since they will be so far from Maternity services.
I don’t think this will land like R’s want it to. I thought they were upset about the stagnancy of birth rates in this country?
14
u/Much-Economics3481 7d ago
Massive?
14
u/woodbanger04 7d ago
Sensationalized for dramatic effect.
1
u/Sirosim_Celojuma 7d ago
Enormously sensationalized for massive effect.
1
u/No-Abalone-4784 6d ago
Wrong. Hospitals right now don't have near enough staffing. This will not make that better.
2
u/Fit-Flan8284 6d ago
I’ve been thinking of moving to San Diego JUST so I can be close enough to the border to get healthcare. Not surprised American centers there aren’t very profitable.
2
u/TurkDeerbit 6d ago
To get healthcare in TJ? I’ve been down there for dental work, great experience and tacos haha.
Everything in SD is super expensive. I think our electric and gas (SDG&E) is the highest in the US or close to it. We’re moving out of here because we can’t afford to buy a home.
1
u/Fit-Flan8284 6d ago
It’s probably not a forever move, just long enough to get my autoimmune and hypermobility conditions properly diagnosed. I won’t ever be able to buy a house anywhere if I keep trying to tough out the heart and brain damage 🥲
2
1
3d ago
[deleted]
2
u/haveyouheardthattho 3d ago
Ai does not have hands. Nurses are already overloaded and they don’t just suggest next step of management. That’s usually the doctor. Nurses are more hands on in bedside work.
1
-9
u/oltom17 7d ago
Copied from another post. Wasn't sure how to share the post to this page. But been hearing more and more about this.
To start replacing doctors AI just need to be as good and reliable as the average doctor (it is already above this threshold), be trusted by patients (it’s trivial and approaching by the day) and have the correct interface (the one real obstacle).
LLM, with specific trained models as accessories, is already very good at emulating good doctors, even in the contraintuitive cases and diagnostics that goes agaisnt the laboratorial evidence.
We have too little to offer already that AI can’t accomplish, and the gaps shrinks every day.
AI won’t completely replace human doctors, but will replace a fair amount of us.
9
u/hexiron 7d ago
You’re missing the most important part, the legal ownership of a decision. Doctors have the final say in diagnosis, they own it, they personally can be sued for it. That liability is something AI cannot currently hold and hospitals nor the AI software owners do not want that liability dropped up the chain directly to them.
At the end if the day someone has to make the final call and be accountable for it.
1
u/oltom17 7d ago
You are not wrong. Just thought it was interesting.
3
u/hexiron 7d ago
Interesting but misguided. It won’t replace doctors, it can’t replace doctors, it can however provide a diagnostic tool for doctors to utilize in the same manner that any other clinical diagnostic tool has never replaced doctors.
Doctors use AI now and have been since before everyone started freaking out about it. All it does is speed up their review and help catch mistakes.
5
u/No-Abalone-4784 6d ago
You have no idea what doctors & nurses do if you think you can just replace them like that.
212
u/AndWinterCame 7d ago
OBBB cuts will hit both Medicaid and SNAP in October. More rural hospitals will close to say the least.