OHSU Projects Billion-Dollar Losses Through June 2022 Due to COVID-19

To avert widespread layoffs, executive salaries will decrease 30 to 40 percent.

Oregon Health and Science University. (Wesley Lapointe)
By Tess Riski

Oregon Health & Science University, the largest research institution in the state, is projecting losses of between $1.1 and $1.4 billion through June 2022, chief financial officer Lawrence Furnstahl announced April 23.

The losses are due in large part to the COVID-19 pandemic. On March 18, Gov. Kate Brown halted all non-urgent medical procedures, to prevent the virus from further spreading in hospitals. OHSU said its revenue dropped $35 to $40 million during the second half of March, and the hospital is projecting a $100 million loss for the month of April.

"Our March financial results coupled with the dramatic financial downturns expected locally and nationally will likely have negative impacts rivaling those of the Great Depression," said Dr. Danny Jacobs, OHSU president, in a video posted Thursday. "Maintaining our workforce will require broad actions across our university to reduce nonessential services and supplies as well as salary reduction."

To avert widespread layoffs, OHSU executives will take pay cuts of between 30 and 40 percent. Other employees will see their salaries reduced based on a graduated formula: The higher the salary, the larger the reduction. Employees earning less than $50,000 will not get a salary reduction.

Furnstahl said patients declined by 40 percent between March and April, with an average of 484 patients a day in March, to 324 in early April. An average of 10 a day were COVID-19 patients.

On Thursday, Brown announced she is lifting statewide restrictions on elective procedures, beginning May 1. It is unclear how this order will affect OHSU's bottom line.

Willamette Week’s reporting has concrete impacts that change laws, force action from civic leaders, and drive compromised politicians from public office. Support WW's journalism today.