The Brunswick County medical center is one of three hospitals the corporation is now building in North Carolina, and the economic situation has caused Novant to decide not to outsource information technology installations in the new facilities.
Since all the work will now be done by corporate employees, said Amy Myers, spokeswoman at Brunswick Community Hospital, the timetable for the work has been prioritized based on the stage of construction of each new facility.
Novant officials had originally hoped the hospital would open in 2010, but Myers said it now could take place in the first quarter of 2011.
The economy has also caused other changes at the hospital, Myers said, although none that should affect patient care.
Senior staff at the director level and above at Brunswick Community Hospital and other Novant facilities will not get pay raises this calendar year, and each job opening is being scrutinized by a top hospital administrator before it is filled.
The pay raise freeze won’t affect staff below the director level, Myers said. Novant determines staff pay raises based on the prevailing job market in health care each spring, and pay adjustments are made as a result.
The more thorough review of job openings doesn’t mean the hospital and corporation will not be hiring anyone, Myers said.
The corporation, with about 24,800 employees systemwide, has an average of 300 to 400 openings a month.
Decisions may be made to delay filling some of the open positions.
The corporation said in a news release announcing the year-end loss that it will continue its community outreach programs and expects its level of charity care to rise as the economy worsens.