Jefferson Health, the parent organization of Lehigh Valley Health Network, announced Wednesday that it is laying off about 1% of its workforce across all its properties, including LVHN.
The move by Jefferson will result in anywhere from 600 to 700 of its 65,000 employees being laid off.
Damien Woods, a spokesperson for Jefferson, said information was not available about what job sectors or locations were affected by the layoffs. In a statement, Dr. Joseph Cacchione, CEO of Jefferson, said like many other health systems, Jefferson is facing significant financial struggles.
“To sustain our mission and continue serving our communities, we must take thoughtful, strategic actions to align our operations for the future. While these decisions are never easy, they are necessary to ensure Jefferson remains strong and able to invest in expanding access to care, advancing innovation, and supporting those who rely on us most,” Cacchione said.
LVHN owns Lehigh Valley Hospital – Dickson City.
The layoffs come just over a year after Jefferson and LVHN completed their merger. During a recent interview with The Morning Call, Cacchione talked up wins for the combined network during that first year, including a major expansion to the emergency department of Lehigh Valley Hospital–Muhlenberg and the opening of the Health Center at Tower Place and the Women’s Health Center in Bethlehem.
The layoff announcement casts a shadow over this second year.
Credit ratings and research group Fitch Ratings just days ago updated its outlook for Jefferson to negative. In its report, FitchRatings noted that despite possessing a respectable market share in the regions it serves, and a healthy student population as well as continued research, Jefferson recorded significant operating losses of $479 million in fiscal year 2025, with about $271 million of investment income moved out of operations.
According to FitchRatings, a significant amount of these losses came from Jefferson Health Plans, Jefferson’s noncommercial insurance marketplace, which lost $170 million in 2025.
Jefferson is not alone in its fiscal hardships. Health care industry groups like the American Hospital Association have been ringing the bell on how hospitals consistently face financial woes due to tariffs as well as issues with underpayments from Medicare, Medicaid and Medicare Advantage plans.
Originally Published: October 15, 2025 at 4:23 PM EDT