The American College of Radiology has released about 11% of its workforce amid budget challenges, leaders told members on Sunday.
The headcount reductions totaled 63 positions and involved all divisions of the college’s staff and a wide range of employee tenure. CEO William T. Thorwarth Jr., MD, told attendees about the decision at ACR’s annual meeting, taking place April 13-17 in Washington.
Radiology Business was not at the event and only learned about the announcement from an attendee who declined to be identified because they are not authorized to publicly disclose such information. ACR said it does not comment to the news media on personnel matters.
The college’s board of chancellors mandated layoffs in a bid to achieve a balanced operating budget by fiscal year 2026, according to a slide presented by Thorwarth and shared with RB. ACR’s operating loss was capped at $4 million in FY 2024 and $2 million for FY 2025, on overall expenses of about $137 million.
Thorwarth said the college has “more than sufficient” reserves to cover such shortfalls. But as part of its drive to balance the budget, ACR also is reviewing “all programs and areas for potential savings.” During this process “the need for staff reduction became clear,” he told attendees, with the college executing the reductions on April 2. ACR also is eyeing a 10% increase to its member dues, the source said.
UPDATE: ACR issued a statement on Tuesday, addressing the layoffs.
"After a thorough review of the organization, the American College of Radiology made the difficult decision to reduce its workforce by approximately 11% to enhance the college's strong financial foundation as it continues to serve and advocate for its 40,000 members and their patients," Thorwarth said April 16. "The decision, which took effect earlier this month, was largely influenced by the cumulative result of the COVID-19 pandemic's economic impact, increased costs of providing improved member services, and rising inflation on multiple industries, including ours. While the ACR continually reviews operations, we do not anticipate a need for further such actions. The ACR remains committed to achieving regulatory, legislative and clinical environments that enable the highest quality patient care. The college will have no further comment on this personnel matter."
(Editor’s Note: The above picture is from ACR's 2023 annual meeting.)
Marty Stempniak has covered healthcare since 2012, with his byline appearing in the American Hospital Association's member magazine, Modern Healthcare and McKnight's. Prior to that, he wrote about village government and local business for his hometown newspaper in Oak Park, Illinois. He won a Peter Lisagor and Gold EXCEL awards in 2017 for his coverage of the opioid epidemic.