Statement: Mayo Clinic confirms temporary furloughs, salary reductions

Mayo Clinic has confirmed it is temporarily furloughing some staff and implementing some salary reductions as it faces "unprecedented challenges" due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Rochester-based medical center stated while it will be able to offer fully pay and benefits for its employees through April 28, leaders are having to take "necessary steps to reduce expenses."

As a result, Mayo Clinic confirmed it will be implementing temporary furlough and salary reduction measures.

Mayo Clinic issued a full statement to ABC affiliate KAAL-TV in Rochester:

Mayo Clinic staff are doing extraordinary work leading in the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. We are proud of and committed to our staff and our communities as they come together to fight this global health crisis. Mayo Clinic is facing unprecedented challenges as a result of these circumstances, including a financial impact that requires significant adjustments to our operations. The decision to proactively postpone elective patient care was the right one, but it eliminated the majority of our revenue at the same time we are making critical investments to develop and expand testing, conduct research to stop the pandemic and re-align our facilities and care teams to treat COVID-19 patients.

Mayo Clinic is taking necessary steps to reduce expenses but additional measures are needed to ensure that we can emerge from this situation in a stable position. While we were able to protect full pay and benefits for our employees through April 28, temporary furloughs of some staff and salary reductions will be required after that time. We will work with our teams in the coming weeks to ensure that our staff are supported, that the duration of this disruption is as limited as possible, and that we are ready to ramp up quickly and resume full operations when it is safe to do so.

Mayo Clinic is constantly evaluating options with leaders in the state and community as we work to ensure patients receive the care they need safely and appropriately in rapidly evolving circumstances. We appreciate the opportunity to collaborate on possible solutions and are confident that we will be able to manage unprecedented challenges by working together.