When it comes to the world of mergers and acquisitions there are often unintended consequences that must be borne out, usually by people who have nothing to do with the mechanics of the decision. In many cases that means the loss of jobs at the new company tried to figure out who they need to keep and who they are going to give the axe to in order to not have too many redundancies on the staff.

Today we are talking about layoffs to the staff over at St. Raphael’s Hospital. For those of you who are not familiar with the facility here is a look at how the former management describes it, “The 511-bed Hospital of Saint Raphael in New Haven, a community teaching hospital affiliated with Yale School of Medicine, and is renowned for excellence in patient care and medical education. Since 1907, Saint Raphael’s experienced physicians and other clinicians have offered the Greater New Haven community state-of-the-art technology, the most advanced procedures, and a comprehensive array of services. As important as the sophistication and scope of our services is how they are delivered.  As a faith-based organization sponsored by the Sisters of Charity of Saint Elizabeth, our care is delivered with compassion and respect for the dignity of each individual.”

Apparently the facility is going through a transition, as the Office of Health Care Access has approved the sale of the facility to the larger Yale-New Haven Hospital in order to help the hospital remain fiscally solvent and serving the local community. The buyout, which will cost Yale-New Haven about $160 million, will mean the loss of about 200 jobs when all is said and done.

The cut of 200 jobs is more then enough to qualify as  mass layoff action under the current federal guidelines. For those of you who are not familiar with the idea of a mass layoff action here is a look at how the federal government defines the term, “The Mass Layoff Statistics (MLS) program collects reports on mass layoff actions that result in workers being separated from their jobs. Monthly mass layoff numbers are from establishments which have at least 50 initial claims for unemployment insurance (UI) filed against them during a 5-week period. Extended mass layoff numbers (issued quarterly) are from a subset of such establishments—where private sector nonfarm employers indicate that 50 or more workers were separated from their jobs for at least 31 days.” For the time being the company has not put out any details of the jobs who are going to be cut and what kind of benefits, if any, the will be giving the soon to be displaced workers to help them find new positions.

At least for those who stay the working conditions should be well. The buying hospital was recently voted a best employer. Here is an excerpt from the release, “Yale-New Haven Hospital is the first hospital in Connecticut to be named one of the best workplaces for commuters in the United States. The designation is given by Best Workplaces for Commuters (BWC), a program managed by the National Center for Transit Research based at the University of South Florida. Employers who meet the National Standard of Excellence in commuter benefits — a standard created by the National Center for Transit Research (NCTR) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) — can qualify for the list of Best Workplaces for Commuters.”