Good Samaritan lays off more than 100

More than 100 employees have lost their jobs as part of a restructuring at the Sioux Falls-based national headquarters of The Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Society.

“I deeply regret the impact it will have in the lives of those good people,” David Horazdovsky, president and CEO, said in a statement.

The reduction represents about 15 percent of the workforce at company headquarters.

Good Samaritan reported having 607 workers on its national campus last fall and about 21,000 nationwide.

It recently completed a two-year, $30 million renovation and expansion of its west-side national campus.

Board chairman H. Thedore Grindal pointed to cost and revenue pressures in the senior care sector as the reason for the reduction, saying the industry has “had to adapt to a new reality.”

“But we have asked ourselves a harder question: How do we achieve stronger operating margins, continue to lead in quality, and, at the same time, reach more people?”

Horzadovsky said financial pressure would be a continuous distraction from the organization’s faith-based mission.

“We have an obligation to innovate – to lead the way in doing more with less.”

“There are incredible changes under way that impact what it means to age. The Society is committed to turning this time of transition into an opportunity for transformation of how America cares for the physical, mental, and spiritual well-being of our seniors.”

In December 2016, Moody’s downgraded Good Samaritan to a Baa2 rating and a negative outlook.

The rating affects $321 million in debt.

The downgrade was made because of a decline in operating margin and operating cash flow margin along with an increase in debt.

“The Baa2 acknowledges the system’s size of operations and significant geographic diversity which reduces risk related to supplemental funding and Medicaid exposure in any one state,” Moody’s said.

“The negative outlook reflects our expectation that the system will continue to experience financial pressure as it continues to refine its business model to adjust to new enterprise risk factors. Further supporting the negative outlook is the high leverage metrics and reduction in cash with sizable capital plans in the near future.”

Good Samaritan owns land on the east side and northwest side of Sioux Falls that is planned for future senior communities.

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Good Samaritan lays off more than 100

More than 100 employees have lost their jobs as part of a restructuring at the Sioux Falls-based national headquarters of The Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Society.

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