Two more layoffs are coming to West Des Moines.
UnityPoint Health announced it is adding 14 workers there to an already slated layoff. And Wells Fargo has announced the layoff of 29 workers at its Jordan Creek office campus, effective July 11.
UnityPoint’s announcement on Iowa’s Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification, or WARN, site lists the effective date of the new layoff as July 24, the same as for its April announcement of 207 job cuts around the state resulting from outsourcing its information technology functions.
In the news release announcing those layoffs, UnityPoint said it also would be announcing yet-unspecified cuts in its revenue cycle department, which is to be outsourced, as well. It emphasized it chose to seek contractors to run IT and the revenue cycle operation, which manages the financial aspects of health care, to minimize the impact on direct patient care and to leverage technology advancements and improve service.
“Expanding clinical services and patient access points remain a top priority as the system realigns its IT and revenue cycle services to better match current and future needs,” the release said.
Major UnityPoint facilities in the Des Moines metro include Iowa Methodist Medical Center, Iowa Lutheran Hospital and UnityPoint Methodist West Hospital in West Des Moines. In all, the nonprofit employs 31,000 people, with 18 regional hospitals and more than 420 clinics throughout Iowa and portions of Illinois and Wisconsin.
UnityPoint’s April announcement followed a similar round of job cuts at MercyOne, another large Iowa health care provider.
UnityPoint did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday, May 20.
How many jobs has Wells Fargo cut?
The Wells Fargo layoff is part of an ongoing reduction the San Francisco-based bank has been carrying out.
Wells Fargo has cut 65,000 of the 275,000 positions it had nationwide in 2019, when CEO Charlie Scharf joined the company. In the Des Moines metro, it has pared its workforce in 11 rounds of layoffs since September, eliminating 350 jobs. Since April 2022, it has cut 1,601 central Iowa jobs in 99 announced layoffs, according to WARN data, with many more jobs lost to attrition.
In previous West Des Moines layoffs, the company has said it regularly reviews and adjusts staffing levels to align with market conditions. It says it strives to find opportunities for affected employees in other parts of the company whenever possible.
Kevin Baskins covers jobs and the economy for the Des Moines Register. Reach him at kbaskins@registermedia.com.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: UnityPoint, Wells Fargo cutting West Des Moines jobs
Reporting by Kevin Baskins, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
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