Publicly traded radiology provider Akumin lays off staff, cuts pay to survive crisis
Radiology provider Akumin revealed Wednesday that it has laid off or furloughed almost 29% of its workforce in a bid to beat the coronavirus crisis. Remaining staffers, meanwhile, are taking pay cuts as high as 20%.
The Plantation, Florida, corporation has also temporarily shuttered 17 of its freestanding imaging centers, while also working out new payment schedules with landlords and vendors. Akumin said its imaging volume had declined roughly 55% as of mid-April as patients have stayed home and delayed care until it's safe.
President and CEO Riadh Zine is optimistic for the future, however, the company shared in its May 13 “business update.” Akumin collected $1 million in grants from the CARES Act in April, he noted, and another $3 million in accelerated payment loans from Medicare. Plus, the firm is beginning to see an uptick in volume, with some states beginning to lift restrictions on its providers.
"With the recovery in progress and our decisive action to contain costs during the implementation of stay-at-home and similar orders across the U.S., we are confident Akumin will emerge from this crisis in a strong position, well-placed for the future growth and consolidation that drives our industry,” Zine said in a statement.
Akumin dubs itself as the “leading provider” of freestanding, fixed-site outpatient diagnostic imaging services in the U.S. It has some 125 such centers, located in seven states, 10 of which are operating as COVID-only imaging clinics.
Zine said the firm had a cash balance of about $17 million as of March 31, and has not yet had to drawn on its line of credit during the crisis. The company is planning to release results from its most recent fiscal quarter “on or before” June 5.
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.