KEENE, NH- Officials at Cheshire Medical Center /Dartmouth-Hitchcock Keene announced Tuesday 34 jobs will be eliminated.

As according to a press release 13 actual employees will receive notice that their jobs were eliminated and a number of those being let go will be offered other open or unfilled positions within the organization; as for the other 22 positions which are currently vacant officials say they will go unfilled.

In response to this move Art Nichols, CEO of Cheshire Medical Center said, “I am extremely sorry this action is needed. This reduction in force is necessary for us to strengthen our organization to ensure a sustainable health system for our community”. Nichols went on to say “The state of New Hampshire suddenly stopped reimbursing our Medicaid Enhancement Tax in 2011 and that has cost us over $11 million in the last 18 months. These are times of great change in health care. Change can be challenging and comes with tough decisions. Today is certainly one of those times.

The cause according to officials is due to declining revenue and drastic cutbacks from the federal and state government failing to reimburse the medical center for Medicare and Medicaid services.

The action comes as officials work to cut $ 7 million dollars out of their operating budget and in turn save approximately $1 million dollars through the end of the 2013 fiscal year and an additional $2.2 million dollars in the 2014 fiscal year.