PeaceHealth announces more layoffs at labs in Oregon

Regional health care provider PeaceHealth says its mass layoff will affect 85 more Oregon workers than previously reported.

PeaceHealth is eliminating the jobs because of its decision to sell laboratories to Quest Diagnostics, a for-profit company based in New Jersey.

Documents filed in February showed that PeaceHealth planned to lay off 186 workers in Oregon and 142 in Washington.

The Register-Guard reports PeaceHealth announced the additional layoffs in a statement Wednesday. That brings the total layoff in Oregon to 271 employees. Most of them work in Lane County, which includes the Eugene-Springfield area.

PeaceHealth announced in February that Quest Diagnostics will manage 11 laboratories PeaceHealth operates mostly in hospitals in Washington state, Alaska and Oregon. PeaceHealth will maintain ownership of those labs, including the one at St. Joseph hospital in Bellingham.

Quest Diagnostics also will purchase eight patient centers throughout Whatcom County. According to its website, PeaceHealth has six in Bellingham, one in Ferndale and one in Lynden. The patient centers are typically places where people can go to get blood tests and other services.

The deal is expected to be completed some time this spring following a regulatory review. It’s unclear how staffing levels will be impacted in Bellingham.

This story was originally published March 29, 2017 at 4:28 PM with the headline "PeaceHealth announces more layoffs at labs in Oregon."