(AP) – The new head of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences says it’s on pace to have a balanced budget after previously contending with projections of a $72 million budget deficit.
Dr. Cam Patterson, who became the new chancellor for UAMS on Friday, says his staff has submitted a balanced $1.57 billion budget for fiscal 2019.
The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports that UAMS has laid off 258 workers since January and plans to eliminate 730 jobs. The cutbacks reduced the deficit closer to an initial projection of $39 million.
The academic hospital is one of the state’s largest public employers. It employs more than 10,000 people and educates about 3,000 students a year.
Public teaching hospitals across the country are facing financial challenges amid shifting health-care policies, uncertain reimbursement rates and public funding shortfalls.
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