Bellingham caregivers hit in another round of statewide PeaceHealth layoffs
PeaceHealth plans to layoff 94 employees across Washington — including 26 positions in Bellingham, seven in Sedro-Woolley and one in Lynden — come April, the company notified the state on Wednesday.
“After extensive analysis and careful consideration, PeaceHealth has made the difficult decision to reduce roles systemwide, affecting less than 1% of our workforce,” said PeaceHealth Marketing and Communications Director Amy Drury in a statement to The Bellingham Herald.
Seven positions will be cut directly from St. Joseph Medical Center staff. Another 19 positions will be cut from other offices and clinics in Bellingham, including the Squalicum Surgery Center, the St. Joseph Cancer Center and the Hospice House, according to a Feb. 11 letter PeaceHealth sent to the Washington Employment Security Department.
PeaceHealth is required to notify the department under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act, which necessitates that companies planning a mass layoff give workers 60 days notice.
The impacted positions include mental health therapists, assistant nurse managers and clinical social workers, among other roles. Drury said the majority of affected positions are non-clinical and administrative.
“Change is difficult and requires hard decisions, especially when people are affected,” Drury told The Herald.
Drury called the layoffs a “necessary realignment” and said they reflected “the changing needs of our growing communities, ongoing financial pressures to reduce costs and our commitment to advancing the health and well-being of those we serve.”
She told The Herald PeaceHealth is “grateful to every caregiver who has contributed to our Mission.”
“We are in a period of transformation that calls for both courage and compassion. As the healthcare landscape continues to shift rapidly, hospitals and health systems are redesigning how they deliver care to provide more convenient, cost-effective and innovative services. PeaceHealth is doing the same — modernizing our operations and care delivery model to offer more coordinated, person-first care that delivers greater value and sustains our organization for the future,” Drury told The Herald.
All seven positions being cut in Sedro-Woolley are located at the United General Medical Center and United General Pavilion. The one position impacted in Lynden is a medical office assistant at the North County Clinic, according to the letter.
PeaceHealth layoffs will also impact employees at facilities in Longview and Vancouver, Wash., the letter shows.
Because some of the positions PeaceHealth plans to cut are union-represented and protected by something called “bumping rights,” the company said in the letter that it could not “predict with certainty” which represented employees would ultimately be affected or the exact order in which employees would be separated.
“PeaceHealth will ensure that all caregivers will be paid all earned wages at the time of their layoff in accordance with Washington law and any applicable collective bargaining agreement,” the letter states.
This is the second round of layoffs for PeaceHealth in just a matter of months. The company announced plans to lay off 241 positions across Washington — including 55 based in Bellingham — late last year.
St. Joseph Medical Center is Whatcom County’s only hospital and the second-largest employer in the county, employing 3,728 people in 2024, according to data collected by Western Washington University.
This story was originally published February 11, 2026 at 6:09 PM.
