Hiring freeze announced by Sparrow Health System
LANSING — Sparrow Health System on Wednesday announced a hiring freeze for some positions that don't "directly impact" patient care.
"At Sparrow, nothing is more important than protecting the health and safety of our patients and we are putting a priority on filling positions related directly to patient care," the health care organization said in a statement. "At the same time, it is important for our future that we wisely manage our resources, so we are placing a freeze on filling jobs in areas that don’t directly impact patient care."
Sparrow has 8,820 full-time, part-time and per-diem employees, said John Foren, Sparrow director of media relations and corporate communications. He added there is no way to quantify how many positions may be affected by the freeze.
"It's important to make the distinction that we still are very much hiring for jobs that directly impact patient care, such as those at the bedside like nurses," Foren said. "The freeze is for positions that don't directly impact patient care, such as IT, finance, etc."
Sparrow, which joined the University of Michigan Health System in April 2023, will rename its facilities under the U-M brand on April 1, 2024.
Sparrow's union with the University of Michigan Health and Michigan Medicine created a $7.8 billion organization, the second-largest health care company in the state.
The health system's name will also change to University of Michigan Health-Sparrow on the same date.
Sparrow operates more than 150 sites of care: at E.W. Sparrow Hospital in Lansing, community hospitals in Carson City, Charlotte, Ionia and St. Johns, and the 478 Sparrow primary care providers and specialists serving patients across the region, according to the organization's website.
The statement about the freeze did not say at which facilities positions would remain unfilled.
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Sparrow Health System says it will freeze hiring for some positions
