Leaders not spared from health system layoffs in 2026

At least 13 hospitals and health systems have cut leadership or management roles in 2026 as financial pressures and realignments push organizations to restructure for long-term sustainability.

Becker’s covered six hospital layoffs involving leaders in September alone, compared to at least eight throughout all of 2025.

The most recent cuts came Oct. 12 at Montrose (Colo.) Regional Health, which eliminated 77 roles, including 12 leadership positions. The reductions included 34 employees who were laid off and 43 vacant positions that will not be filled.

In September, Duarte, Calif.-based City of Hope shared plans to lay off 73 employees at its Irwindale, Calif., facility, effective Nov. 24. The employees include those working in business support and operations functions at all levels, including management.

Also in September, Cheshire Medical Center in Keene, N.H., eliminated seven leadership and administrative positions amid plans to close its inpatient rehabilitation unit by Oct. 30. The hospital is part of Lebanon, N.H.-based Dartmouth Health.

Earlier in the month, Dartmouth Health laid off 124 employees and canceled 303 open positions. The reductions include consolidating and restructuring executive roles and administrative leadership, the system said.

The three other systems that announced leadership layoffs in September were in the West: Tacoma, Wash.-based MultiCare Health System, Palo Alto, Calif.-based Stanford Health Care and Walnut Creek, Calif.-based John Muir Health.

In May, Providence, R.I.-based Care New England announced it laid off more than 30 leadership and nonclinical roles in a restructuring. The system has more than 8,000 clinical and nonclinical employees. 

Michael Wagner, MD, president and CEO of Care New England, said the layoffs are a result of inadequate reimbursement rates, rising labor and supply costs and an increase in uncompensated care. He said the system is facing an estimated $20 million budget shortfall for fiscal 2026.

“Current financial conditions have made additional cost-saving measures unavoidable, but decisions like these that affect our workforce are especially difficult because they impact valued employees, colleagues, and the patients and communities we serve,” Dr. Wagner said. “However, the financial realities facing healthcare providers in Rhode Island require immediate action to preserve essential services and maintain long-term stability for a system uniquely committed to caring for even the most vulnerable Rhode Islanders.”

Care New England’s announcement closely followed Salt Lake City-based Intermountain Health, which cut 93 caregiver roles — including leadership and staff positions — across two states. The system is closing several clinics and restructuring select services in Colorado and Montana, effective July 24. An Intermountain spokesperson said the clinic closures and restructuring of services are intended to support long-term financial sustainability.

Similar pressures also have hit safety-net systems. In February, New York City-based One Brooklyn Health cut more than 50 roles, including leadership and nonclinical administrative positions, following an assessment of the system’s structure, services and performance.

“While the financial pressures facing safety-net hospitals across New York and the country are very real and now at our doorstep, this decision was ultimately driven by a forward-looking evaluation of OBH’s internal operations and the need to make responsible, data-informed changes in support of our mission,” its statement said.

Rural systems are confronting the same math. Ogdensburg, N.Y.-based North Star Health Alliance shared plans in January to cut more than 100 roles across clinical, nonclinical and management teams. In March, the system dismissed three leaders — its COO, chief administrator of behavioral health and executive director of the North Star Foundation — as part of a broader restructuring as it seeks Chapter 11 protection.

“Like many rural healthcare systems, NSHA continues to face significant financial pressure driven by rising costs, workforce constraints and ongoing challenges that limit the ability to sustain current operations at every site and service line,” the system said in a Jan. 20 news release.

A North Star spokesperson said the three leadership dismissals were not performance-based but rather part of a broader restructuring “aimed at maintaining organizational stability, ensuring continuity of care, and positioning the organization for long-term sustainability.”

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