Petition to protect the jobs of healthcare workers in mid Missouri:

On May 1, 2020, MU Health Care announced 32 layoffs in the midst of a growing public health crisis. As the dominant health care services provider in mid Missouri, and an arm of a publicly funded university, we, the undersigned community members, demand more transparency in staffing decisions and a moratorium on layoffs. 

The budget crisis facing the University of Missouri system as a whole, stemming from years of tax breaks for the wealthy and corporations, and greatly exacerbated by the Novel Coronavirus pandemic, presents a serious challenge to MU Health Care delivering quality care when Missourians need it most. In addition to student refunds and budget withholdings from Jefferson City, UM System CFO Ryan Rapp estimates that the loss of elective procedures through MU Health Care represents a loss of $30-35 million in revenue.

But MU Health Care is wildly profitable, with about $85-100 million in profit each year. Although MU Health Care was already running at a 10 percent operating margin (4 percent higher than similar operations), its executives announced it intended to squeeze even more out of its patients and employees in January, 2019. 

MU Health Care has joined the national chorus saluting the heroes on the front lines of the pandemic. Using the hashtag #MUHealthCareHeroes on its social media accounts, they have encouraged members of the community to donate to a COVID-19 relief fund and to post messages of thanks to front-line staff. Despite “we are all in this together” rhetoric, MU Health Care simultaneously laid off 32 of its employees, without any explanation to the community regarding the occupational categories of those laid off, or how it would affect care. 

If we truly care about the safety and well-being of our local heroes, we must stand in solidarity with them when they are treated as expendable by their bosses.

Therefore, as community members of mid Missouri, we ask MU Health Care to disclose:

1. The occupational categories and units of all 32 employees laid off.
2. Plans in place prior to the current pandemic for budget shortfalls in times of crisis.
3. Voluntary pay cuts by executives as a percentage of total compensation for the entire year, and confirmation they will not be paid out on a later date.
4. Plans currently in place to avoid further lay-offs and increase staffing.

As the Novel Coronavirus pandemic makes clear, such information and decision making processes are matters of public interest. Thankfully, mid Missouri has so far been spared from the worst of the pandemic. But with Missouri lifting restrictions on economic activity and experts warning the pandemic will continue to come in waves for the next 18 to 24 months, a potentially understaffed health care operation is a matter that affects us all.

Front line health care workers who are fully staffed, resourced, and not worried about losing their jobs are a benefit to everyone. We look forward to reading the requested information.