Swedish says cuts won’t hit Issaquah

Swedish Medical Center has announced that it will be forced to lay off about 200 of its 7,000 employees by early next week.

Swedish Medical Center has announced that it will be forced to lay off about 200 of its 7,000 employees by early next week.

The center said that a need to reduce operating costs is the motivation behind the layoffs, which come on the heels of similar cuts from large local employers such as Microsoft and Starbucks.

However, a spokesperson for Swedish’s Issaquah campus, Ed Boyle, said that he did not expect staff here to be effected.

“We do not expect any impact to the Issaquah campus or the hospital project related to Swedish’s restructuring announcement yesterday,” he said.

Positions being eliminated include four vice-presidents, 22 directors and an unspecified number of managers and support staff, including nonpracticing medical managers.

Physicians, nurses, nurse managers and patient-support personnel are not likely to be effected.