Southern Arizona hospitals added jobs in 2010, but growth is still sluggish in an industry beset with the lingering effects of the recession and wary of potential cuts to state and federal health-care programs.
The Star 200's biggest hospital employer, UA Healthcare, increased its number of full-time-equivalent employees by more than 200 last year, due to the opening of Diamond Children's Medical Center at University Medical Center.
UA Healthcare incorporates University Medical Center and University Physicians Healthcare, a doctors' group, which merged into one company last summer. The new entity is one of Southern Arizona's largest employers, reporting 5,982 full-time-equivalent employees at the end of 2010. UPH reported 2,219 employees at the end of 2009.
But despite the addition of staffing this year for the Diamond Center, UA Healthcare officials do not anticipate much growth in 2011, said Misty Hansen, chief financial officer for UA Healthcare.
People are also reading…
Hansen said the health network plans to be conservative in the face of anticipated cuts to state healthcare programs such as the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System, the state's Medicaid program.
"With cuts coming to health care we will continue to run as efficiently as possible," she said. "I would not expect a lot of job growth from UA Healthcare in the next year."
Hospitals will be cautious about how they grow as long as Medicaid cuts are on the table, said Jim Haynes, senior vice president and chief financial officer for the Arizona Healthcare and Hospital Association.
"The uncertainty is holding things down a bit," he said.
AHCCCS cases account for about 27 percent of the health-care market in Arizona, Haynes said.
Eliminating AHCCCS entirely would cost an estimated 159,000 jobs in health care and other industries statewide. A scaled-back proposal to eliminate coverage for low-income adults without children would eliminate about 30,000 jobs, Haynes said.
"That's a real concern," he said. "It would have a dramatic impact on health-care jobs, and all jobs across the state."
The recession has stalled industry growth statewide. Hospitals have taken a hit with more people becoming uninsured, and others putting off elective procedures to save money, Haynes said.
"That's had a kind of dampening effect," Haynes said.
Tucson Medical Center, with 2,966 full-time equivalent employees, shrank by about 2.7 percent in 2010.
"We're not growing the way we'd like to be," said Michael Letson, a TMC spokesman.
Letson said the hospital has scaled back non-clinical positions where possible.
"We've looked for ways to tighten the reins," he said. "We are not attempting to have a hiring freeze, but we do expect to be cautious in hiring. We will cover positions that have to be filled."
The hospital continues to hire skilled workers such as nurses, radiologists and information technology specialists, he said.
"As turnover occurs, skilled clinical personnel will have opportunities," Letson said. "At any given moment we typically have a good number of positions to fill."
The Star 200's largest physicians group, Arizona Community Physicians, stayed flat, reporting 697 full-time-equivalent employees for both 2010 and 2009.
Carondelet Health Network, the Star 200's second-largest health-care employer, had 2.7 percent more full-time-equivalent employees at the end of 2010 compared with year-end 2009. Carondelet reported 4,690 full-time-equivalent employees, up from 4,566 the year before.
However, the increase does not necessarily indicate an upward trend for the health network. The number of full-time-equivalents can fluctuate throughout the year based on factors like patient demand, said Daisy Jenkins, senior vice president and chief human-resources officer for Carondelet.
Like TMC, Carondelet is actively hiring clinical specialists, Jenkins said.
"We are always recruiting," she said.
Contact reporter Alex Dalenberg at adalenberg@azstarnet.com or 807-8429.
