The UCSD Medical Center has cut $24 million from its budget without resorting to furloughs.
State budget cuts created a deficit of more than $800 million at the University of California. Many of the cuts have come in the form of employee furloughs. But UC hospitals were given the option of not using furloughs, in order to ensure patient safety. DeAnn Marshall, with the UCSD Medical Center, said San Diego hospitals have found alternatives.
Administrators cut the budget by limiting overtime and not filling vacant positions. She says the medical center has also eliminated many travel expenses, and there have been some layoffs.
"That has been done on a case by case basis, but it has not been a widespread layoff by any means," she said.
Marshall would not say how many hospital staff were laid off. She says $24 million in cuts from the UCSD Medical Center represents about 8 percent of the budget.
