Two lose their jobs after top administrative positions eliminated at Memorial Hospital

Memorial Hospital at Gulfport has laid off people working in two top administrative positions, hospital CEO Kent Nicaud confirmed to the Sun Herald Tuesday.

Chas Pierce, vice president of systems development, and Chief Medical Officer Mark Gilbert were let go. Their duties were reassigned to people in other positions, whose salaries will not be raised.

The staffing shakeup is part of Memorial’s effort to revert to “an organizational structure that was more similar to three or four years ago,” Nicaud said. Gilbert’s role was established only in the last two to three years, Nicaud said.

Nicaud said the move represented the hospital exercising “a responsibility for us to sort of get back to business after we’re coming out of two COVID years.”

Nicaud said the layoffs will help the hospital adjust to the increased labor costs in bedside care in the wake of COVID-19. “There is a severe nursing shortage and the cost of bedside care, particularly nursing, is not what it was prior to COVID,” Nicaud said.

“There’s nothing else planned in terms of eliminating positions,” Nicaud said, adding that Memorial currently is seeking to fill 158 nursing vacancies.

David White, chairman of Memorial Hospital’s Board of Trustees, said the hospital had experienced a “rough year financially” and the layoffs were part of necessary cutbacks.

White would not comment further.

Nicaud declined to give the salaries of Pierce or Gilbert.

The hospital’s financial rating was downgraded in 2021, according to Fitch Ratings.

This story was originally published April 5, 2022 at 5:25 PM.