Optum cuts nursing jobs at MedExpress clinics

Photo: Dean Mitchell/Getty Images

MedExpress Urgent Care, a chain of clinics owned by Optum, itself a subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group, will be eliminating registered nursing positions at about 150 facilities as part of a broader round of layoffs at Optum, which so far has been tight-lipped regarding the reasons for the move.

Nurse.org reported the layoffs, which were confirmed by West Virginia's NewsChannel WSAZ 3, which said that RNs would no longer be employed by MedExpress after September 7.

WHAT'S THE IMPACT?

A spokesperson for UnitedHealth Group provided the following statement: "MedExpress continually assesses and evolves our staffing models to better reflect urgent care industry standards. As always, we will support team members affected with job placement resources and seek to deploy them where possible to any open roles within the company."

MedExpress nurses posted an online petition calling on UnitedHealth Group to reverse the decision, which they said will result in the termination of all RNs nationwide.

Calling the decision "rash, reckless and unsafe," the nurses filing the petition claim that there's currently no plan in place for the retraining necessary to make MedExpress clinics run without nurses. 

"Nurses are the core of our facility, and one of the biggest reasons that patients choose to come to MedExpress instead of other urgent care facilities," the nurses said, while demanding the decision be reversed "in the interest of patient safety."

The petition goes on to claim that many MedExpress providers lack formal training in reconstituting and administering medications, and while medical assistants have proven a valuable resource, they don't have the expertise necessary to perform most nursing duties, the nurses claim.

"Make no mistake, there will be deaths and there will be very expensive lawsuits," the petition reads.

The group of nurses also claims the decision would lead a majority of providers to resign – a process they said was already happening. This will "force either center closures or high utilization of very expensive locum providers who will not have sufficient training or capability to run the facilities the way we currently do," the group wrote, adding that the decision "will lead to a significant decrease in patient volume, as the provider is now responsible for a remarkable amount of new tasks and responsibilities that we are not trained appropriately to provide."

THE LARGER TREND

UnitedHealth Group is coming off a strong second quarter, driven in part by strong performance at Optum. UHG realized Q2 revenues that, at $92.9 billion, were 16% higher than the year previous; Optum grew 25% to $56.3 billion.

For Q2, Optum's operating margin of 6.6% compares to 7.3% in the prior year. Optum Health revenue per consumer served increased 33% over last year, driven by growth of more than 900,000 patients served under value-based care arrangements.
 

Twitter: @JELagasse
Email the writer: Jeff.Lagasse@himssmedia.com