GREENFIELD — Baystate Franklin Medical Center nurses are sounding the alarm after hearing about layoffs impacting as many as 22 departments across the Greenfield hospital and the rest of the Baystate Health system.
On Thursday, multiple nurses shared that they have seen their colleagues in the information technology (IT), human resources (HR), patient transport, scheduling, billing and other departments be told to pack up their desks before being walked out by security this week. Although they say they have not received exact information regarding how many staff members are being laid off, nurses are estimating that it could be in the dozens based on what they are seeing around the hospital.
“We’re largely finding out through word-of-mouth. … A lot of people that were laid off were seen by other colleagues being walked out by security,” said Carolyn Miklovich, an obstetrics nurse at the hospital. “We’re kind of piecemealing it together.”
Representatives for Baystate Health did not respond to requests for comment by phone or email on Thursday.
This news is the latest in several rounds of layoffs. In November 2024, the hospital system eliminated 134 positions. Come April 2025, Baystate laid off 42 employees, and in December 2025, the hospital shared that more cuts would be looming due to a projected $146.7 million shortfall in revenue due to federal funding cuts associated with President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act. This past February, Baystate Health announced that 117 corporate jobs would be cut.
Marissa Potter, co-chair of the Massachusetts Nurses Association Bargaining Committee and an obstetrics nurse at Baystate Franklin, said she understands the fiscal pressures the hospital system is facing, but that the layoffs represent “misaligned priorities.” While Potter believes no doctors, nurses or clinicians have been laid off, she said these cuts would still have an impact on patient care and staff morale.
“They’re about to purchase another hospital and those are big numbers,” Potter said. “It’s hard to see and it’s hard to understand.”
In April, Baystate Health signed an agreement with Trinity Health of New England to purchase Mercy Medical Center in Springfield for $293 million.
Without patient transport staff, Potter said registered nurses would have to take on more work in assisting patients into their beds and between departments for tests and procedures.
“It means more and more work is being hoisted onto RNs,” Potter said. “There’s clearly a lot of need and to eliminate positions that may pay $20 to $22 an hour is really showing of their priorities.”
According to Miklovich, there is no longer an HR representative at the hospital for staff to talk to, and while she thinks HR tasks will be outsourced, hospital administration has not given any guidance to the remaining staff on how the layoffs will affect HR operations.
She added that there is now only a single part-time social worker at the hospital, which serves as the only hospital in Franklin County. With fewer staff, remaining employees will be taking on more responsibilities.
“That work still has to happen,” Miklovich said. “It feels unethical and it’s concerning for the care we’re giving.”
Miklovich said not only do the layoffs mean more work, but they are having an impact on employee morale.
“We’re really wishing everyone had these protections,” Miklovich said. “You look around and see this person who you value and see working really hard is laid off. … You do feel disposable.”
Potter said the nurses union is still committed to providing high-quality care for patients.
“Baystate Franklin Medical Center is still a safe and excellent place to receive care,” Potter said. “We’ll adapt. … We’re used to doing more with less.”
They added that the way the layoffs occurred was confusing and disrespectful to the staff.
“The CEO writing a book about firing people is just egregious,” Miklovich said. “It makes people feel really bitter and I don’t think it’s a good way to lead.”
Last month, Forbes Books published “The Necessary Goodbye: How Great Leaders Fire with Clarity, Confidence and Compassion,” written by Baystate Health CEO Peter Banko. In the book, Banko wrote that he sees letting staff go as a necessary leadership tool.
“I’ve gotten really good at letting people go. I see it as an art,” Banko wrote. “After two decades as a CEO and operating officer, I figured it out through trial and error, with many trials and many errors. After honing my skills, I use the least-used leadership tool more effectively than most executives I know.”
“It feels inhumane and undignified, and doesn’t honor the work they do,” Miklovich said.
The layoffs come less than a week after the nurses union voted 98% to reject the “Last, Best and Final Offer” proposed by the hospital. Baystate Franklin’s nurses have been negotiating with hospital administration on a contract since September, and have been operating under monthly extensions since the previous contract expired in December.
The nurses are seeking to increase pay, maintain safe nurse-to-patient ratios and improve sick leave protections for their 215 union members.
According to Potter, no additional negotiation sessions have been scheduled, but the hospital has indicated that administrators could be available in a few weeks to return to the table, and she is confident the contract can be worked out.
