FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2026
CONTACT: Megan Othersen Gorman / [email protected] / (215) 817-5781
Ashley Berry-Johnson / [email protected] / (267) 990-5505
YESTERDAY, JEFFERSON HEALTH LAID OFF NURSE CASE MANAGERS AT JEFFERSON EINSTEIN PHILADELPHIA HOSPITAL
The Cuts, Coming On The Heels of Jefferson’s Sale/Closure of 7 Legacy Einstein Pediatric Clinics in June, Continue a Deeply Troubling Pattern of Center-City, C-Suite Decisions That Threaten the Support, Continuity of Care, and Resources North Philadelphia Needs
THE MEGACORPORATION WHOSE OFFICIAL MISSION STATEMENT IS “WE IMPROVE LIVES” IS PRIORITIZING ACQUISITION, SPORTS MARKETING, AND ITS INSURANCE PLANS OVER ACTUAL PATIENT CARE IN NORTH PHILADELPHIA
PHILADELPHIA – Yesterday, in yet another sign that Jefferson is actively abandoning the community it vowed to serve when it merged with the Einstein Healthcare Network in 2021, Jefferson Health laid off eight Nurse Case Managers and one Operations Resource Nurse at Jefferson Einstein Philadelphia Hospital.
These are not just nine jobs eliminated. These are nine registered nurses who help coordinate patients’ care, advocate for their needs, and connect patients, medical teams, and insurance providers to ensure people get the care they need. Cutting these essential professionals threatens the continuity of care, weakens patient advocacy, and places an even greater burden on patients and the healthcare workers left behind.
“Jefferson, my employer with whom I should have a shared mission of caring for our community, is choosing to divest from community-based care and, instead, invest in an Eagles practice facility and the Lehigh Valley IronPigs ballpark,” says longtime Einstein Mother/Baby nurse and Einstein Nurses United member Carla Le’coin, RN. “What’s happening is a steady, methodical corporate amputation of accessible services and care for humble neighborhoods.
“It isn’t right – and it isn’t why I came to work at Einstein.”
Among the 15 largest nonprofit health systems in the US, the megacorporation whose official mission statement is “We Improve Lives” is systematically reducing care in North/Northeast Philadelphia, while union–busting at the same time.
“Jefferson informed the union of the planned layoffs at the same time they informed those of us affected by the layoffs,” says Einstein Nurse Case Manager Kim Frost-King, RN, a member of the Executive Board of Einstein Nurses United. “They gave us just four days to decide whether to look for another job at Einstein, a non-union position at Jefferson Main, or to take severance pay – and they didn’t provide us with any information about available positions at Einstein or written information regarding our pay rate, since our pay is different than that of Jeff Main.”
The nurses at Einstein are the only unionized nurses in the Jefferson Health system. “While they’re taking away from our patients, they also want to take away our rights as union members so that they can have complete control and dissuade any Jeff Main staff from wanting to become union members,” says Frost-King. “We have a voice to advocate for our patients and ourselves. I’m not sure they like that.”
“North Philadelphia patients are not disposable,” says Stephanie Stucka, RN, a longtime Einstein nurse and co-president of Einstein Nurses United. “Their care is not a cost-cutting opportunity. And we will never let that stand. We will fight back, and we will hold Jefferson accountable.”
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Einstein Nurses United is an affiliate of PASNAP, the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals, which represents more than 11,000 frontline nurses and healthcare professionals across Pennsylvania and was founded 25 years ago on the understanding that critical care patients do better when their caregivers have a strong voice to advocate for their patients and themselves.
