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WashU announces major campus renovation
Max Bogue, (left) and Mia Bozeman walk along the elms that line Brookings Drive to Skinker Boulevard on Washington University's Danforth Campus on Thursday, Oct. 1, 2015. Officials there announced plans to renovate the space that will be called the Central Green, add buildings and construct an underground parking garage just east of Brookings Hall, (background). A variety of oaks will replace the elms, which which will be removed. The parking lot in front of Brauer Hall to the north will be turned into green space.
Photo by Christian Gooden, cgooden@post-dispatch.com
ST. LOUIS — Washington University employees received a letter Monday morning, alerting them of cost-cutting measures in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The letter says the university expects to furlough about 1,300 employees for 90-day periods, unpaid.
"It is our strong desire to preserve as many jobs as we can," the letter says. "You, our employees, are what make the university great. We do expect, however, that there will be a significant number of furloughs, particularly on the Medical Campus, at least through the months of May, June, and July."
The school is battling a combination of higher expenses related to the pandemic, and lower revenues from lower volumes.
The school's clinics are seeing 60% fewer patients, the letter says, and the medical school is expecting a revenue loss of $150 million through the end of the fiscal year.
"Even for an institution like ours, with a strong financial foundation, this crisis is taking a huge toll, primarily due to sweeping changes on the Medical Campus, which has completely shifted its operations to respond to COVID-19 patient care," the letter says. "Elective procedures and any activities that are not absolutely necessary or related to COVID-19 have been halted or scaled back. The academic hospitals have hundreds of empty beds."
The letter was signed by Andrew Martin, the chancellor, David Perlmutter, the dean of the medical school and executive vice chancellor for medical affairs, and Henry Webber, the executive vice chancellor and chief administrative officer.