Seton Healthcare Family To Lay Off More Than 100 Workers In Austin

AUSTIN, TX — The Seton Healthcare Family hospital system is laying off more than 100 people throughout Central Texas, according to a notice sent to Texas Workforce Commission officials on Monday.

Some 129 jobs are pending elimination as the hospital system divests of certain functions, according to correspondence dubbed a WARN letter sent to TWC officials. WARN stands for the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, a federal law requiring employers to provide advance notice of significant layoffs affecting workers. It's designed to give workers a transition period to adjust to job losses, obtain other employment or pursue additional training for another position.

The layoffs are set to occur between Jan. 9 and Jan. 22, according to the WARN letter provided to Patch by TWC officials. According to the letter, the layoffs will come in the company's "Hospital Revenue Cycle Department" functions.

“The permanent layoffs are due to the closure of several functions within Seton Hospital Revenue Cycle Department related to billing, cash posting, customer service, payer followup, pre-service and transcription,” Joe Canales, vice president of Ascension Health Human Resources, wrote to TWC officials as part of the WARN notice.

Four Seton Healthcare Family locations will be affected by the layoffs: The Seton administrative offices at 1345 Philomena St. in Austin, with 68 layoffs; the Chevy Chase office at 7715 Chevy Chase Dr., where another 33 are to be laid off; and the Seton Medical Park Tower at 1301 W. 38th St., with 22 pending layoffs. Another six layoffs occur at Seton Smithville Hospital, according to the company officials.

None of the workers are represented by a union or have seniority "bumping rights" which would allow them to take the job of an underling to prevent being laid off.

Seton Healthcare Family has a workforce of some 12,800 people throughout Central Texas, and is part of the not-for-profit St. Louis-based Ascension — the largest U.S. nonprofit health care system an the world's largest Catholic health system. Seton was founded in 1902 by the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul, according to information found on its website.

The Seton Healthcare Family hospital system has deep roots in Austin, formed through a grass-roots initiative in the 1890s locally that led to the opening of the Seton Infirmary in May 1902. In keeping with beliefs of the Roman Catholic Church, Seton hospitals don't provide abortions, oral contraception, emergency contraception or sterilization.

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