The University of Rochester Medical Center says employees will be notified about planned furloughs on May 8. Furloughs will begin two days later.

Tracey Harrison, administrative organizer for the 1199 SEIU United Healthcare Workers East union, said the union’s members are preparing for the upcoming furloughs.

"The thought of not being able to come to work is a very frightening experience for a lot of folks," Harrison said. “High anxiety, a lot of stress, concerns.”

1199 represents 1,700 to 1,800 members within UR Med. The positions include servicing and tech jobs, along with those working in food and nutrition, transportation, patient care technician, linens, and more.

The medical center says “after exhausting other alternatives for cost savings, it is now painfully apparent that a temporary workforce reduction will be necessary at URMC.”

The union recognizes the financial challenges the pandemic has placed on our area’s largest employer, and says it’s trying to be flexible.

"Looking at the bigger scheme of things, I think that it's had an impact across the board. You have a lot of institutions trying to do their absolute best to stay afloat," said Harrison.

UR Medicine says “we are hopeful that most employees will be able to return within three to four months as operations return to normal, although it is impossible to predict given the uncertain nature of the outbreak. We would never ask our workforce to make this sacrifice unless it was absolutely necessary.”

Employees are being told the furloughs will align staffing more closely with the medical center’s current volumes of patient care, research work, and educational services.

The medical facility tells Spectrum News the move is intended to be temporary and flexible and that furloughed employees will not lose health or retirement benefits and will qualify for unemployment.

“People are concerned. That’s the number one thing, is people’s health and safety at this point. So for a lot of people, they’re saying, listen, I’ll take the furlough," said Harrison.

URMC does say it is extremely proud of the courage and dedication employees throughout the institution have shown in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and that makes this move even more painful.