Rumors that more than 100 jobs have been eliminated in the Memorial Health System in Marietta are a vastly exaggerated version of the actual situation, the health system CEO said Wednesday morning.

Scott Cantley said a staffing realignment that affected about 100 of the system’s employees has resulted in a net loss of about 15 jobs, with the others reassigned within the system.

Memorial Health System operates hospitals and several clinics in Marietta and Belpre, and it employs about 3,000 people.

The workforce reduction came about in part as the result of the system drawing back from a federal program intended to reduce Medicare costs, Cantley said.

“It started in January 2016,” he said. “We put a registered nurse care manager in every primary care office, part of a program called patient-centered medical home. Now, with a change in (federal government) administration two years later, we’re not satisfied that the government will go forward with it, and were stepping back from that.”

The change affected more than 20 RNs, he said, who were offered other jobs.

Another 40 nurses were affected as the result of efficiency measures in clinics, he said.

“We have about 350 physicians and advanced level practitioners, such as physicians assistants, many of whom came to Memorial with their own practices and brought in their own clinical coordinators,” he said. For practices in locations such as the main hospital, Wayne medical campus and the Belpre campus, he said, “We asked ourselves, does it make sense for all of them to have individual clinical coordinators?”

That reorganization eliminated 25 jobs, he said, and the people affected were offered other positions.

Ultimately, after those affected — more than 100, he said — were done being moved around, about 15 were left for whom no position could be found in the system.

“Most of them are staying with us,” he said. “It’s mostly just putting people in the places they belong.”

Two physician positions were eliminated, Cantley said, as the result of evaluating an experimental staffing model for emergency rooms.

The model placed two surgeons in rotating on-call duty for emergency rooms in an attempt to make emergency calls less disruptive for the schedules of surgeons. The two surgeons were solely dedicated to emergency calls, he said, and had no clinical practices.

“It was an experiment, it was expensive, and we ended that,” Cantley said.

The system still employs traveling nurses — nurses contracted through an agency that come in for temporary work, usually 13-week stints — Cantley said, calling it a necessary but expensive aspect of staffing. The system needs to pay for the travelers’ relocation and accommodation while they are employed in Marietta, he said.

The staffing adjustments in all affected less than one percent of the workforce, he said, and are part of the system’s continuing strategy to remain efficient. He noted that in past years the system’s staffing numbers have seen steady growth.

“We’re constantly reassessing our dollars to deliver the best quality and most cost efficient care,” he said.

Jennifer Offenberger, associate vice president of marketing and service excellence for Memorial, said the process of realignment began Friday and ended Wednesday morning.

“We’re done,” she said.

Memorial Health System staffing realignment

¯ Employees affected: About 100

¯ Net positions lost: 15

¯ Physician jobs eliminated: 2

¯ Total workforce: About 3,000