Liberty Health cuts staff by 17%

The public health care sector is not alone in feeling the economic pinch. Liberty Health, which became Ontario's largest supplementary health-benefits-management company when it acquired Ontario Blue Cross in February 1995, recently announced that it would cut its workforce by 17% in order to improve its ability to compete. In a news release, president Bill Wilkerson said the company's competitive position was "jeopardized by staffing levels and work assignments no longer appropriate to the way we do business."

Wilkerson said the transfer of costs from government has left employers facing uncertainty in terms of benefit costs and individual purchasers questioning whether independently purchased coverage is affordable.

| CMAJ July 1, 1996 (vol 155, no 1) | News in health and health care |