Ashland, Kentucky’s biggest employer, King’s Daughters Medical Center, which employs around 4,400 employees, announced on Tuesday that mass layoffs would occur and that a significant amount of staff in all areas of the hospital will be subjected to the bad news.

“Unreimbursed care and bad debt are at an all-time high for our organization – approaching the $100 million mark this year,” said the hospital spokesperson Tom Dearing in a statement. “[That] is a 33 percent increase over just a year ago.”

Hospital officials told The Service Employees International Union District 1199, which represents 672 hospital employees, that 82 employees would be laid off and another 50 will likely go from full-time employees to part-time according to Rob Johnson, the hospital division director for the union.

However, the union does not represent medical staff, including nurses, doctors, etc. Johnson says that he is aware that some of these non-union employees, namely nurses, were going to be laid off, though he gave no specific number.

“KDMC claims that these layoffs are due to the economic recession facing the region, however, they are the wealthiest hospital system within hundreds of miles,” said Johnson in a statement on the union’s website. “The truth is that this is about placing profits before people. The folks who work at this hospital provide quality patient care for our community and these layoffs could put that care at risk.”