The Hoskinson Health Wellness Clinic announced plans Friday to eliminate around 40 positions at its Gillette medical facility.
The clinic, which opened in 2022, said it’s not at risk of closing. It will continue serving 20,000 patients with a staff of around 250 employees, according to a clinic spokesperson. Patients affected by discontinued services will be notified directly.
“To continue fulfilling its original goal of improving rural health care, the Clinic must come to terms with some harsh realities that have hurt its ability to perform in an efficient manner,” a clinic press release stated.
The clinic, along with construction and concrete businesses in Gillette that laid off a combined 136 workers in December, were founded by Charles Hoskinson, CEO and founder of Input Output Group.
Declining reimbursement rates, escalating costs, including high provider salaries, and the facility’s payer mix were listed as factors driving the staff reduction in the clinic’s press release.
“To ensure the Clinic can continue serving the people of Gillette and Northeast Wyoming who depend on us, the health care facility must operate in a significantly more cost-effective manner,” the release said.
The layoff comes as Wyoming residents face mounting obstacles to health care access. Hospitals have shut down services like delivery wards in recent years, patients increasingly drive long distances for specialty care and state residents insured on the Affordable Care Act marketplace are experiencing the highest premium increases nationwide because Congress did not extend tax subsidies.
“Hoskinson has been a key source of care for Gillette and surrounding communities, helping residents access medical services close to home,” Wyoming Health Resources Network Executive Director Amanda Teppo said. “Like many rural and frontier providers across Wyoming, it is facing financial pressures from rising costs and ongoing workforce shortages.
“While specific service changes are not yet known, reduced staffing could mean longer wait times, fewer care options, and increased strain on patients, providers, and emergency services,” she continued. “These challenges reflect the broader struggle to sustain reliable, accessible health care in rural and frontier communities throughout Wyoming.”
Layoffs across town
Hoskinson companies announced in December a combined 123 layoffs among its construction and concrete businesses in Gillette and that Hoskinson Concrete would be permanently closed. The actual number of layoffs in December was 136, a spokesperson told WyoFile on Friday.
Though some employees dispute this, the December job cuts were anticipated, according to the Hoskinson firm.
“The large-scale construction needs that led the clinic to create an in-house construction company have come to an end,” Hoskinson Contracting CEO Chris Davis said in a press statement at the time. “As a result, Hoskinson Contracting is scaling back its operations, and the Hoskinson Concrete division is being closed.”
Every laid-off employee would remain on payroll through January, a Hoskinson spokesperson told WyoFile at the time. A spokesperson confirmed the information with WyoFile on Friday.
Workers affected by layoffs can reach out to the Gillette Workforce Center, state workforce officials have advised. Job seekers can look for employment and register at the HireWyo website.
This is a breaking story and may be updated.
Try to remember this when the November elections come. Remember how the goose stepping Hageman and Barrasso have behaved, and their lack of respect for the people that they are supposed to represent. By the way, Chuck and Degenfelder won’t be any better. I would bet that Gillette is trump town.
The physician salaries are excessive. I speak as a 40 year experienced internist in Wyoming. Their starting offer is 350K. Trust me, with the anticipated work load and the realities of current payment rates that was never sustainable. A primary care physician at Mayo in rural MN makes far less with a more demanding schedule. A hospitalist in Casper makes less and more than half of that salary is subsidized by the hospital. People who buy in to their concierge model thinking they have real access to medical care need to be careful.
Admin is worse in most health systems.
CEOs for CIO\CMO\CNOs\ETC, for Directors, for managers, for supervisors. The administration\managerial ladder is long and extremely costly.
At least Dr’s. treat patients.