SYRACUSE, N.Y. – St. Joseph’s Health plans to furlough workers as it braces for a surge of coronavirus patients.

Leslie Paul Luke, president and CEO of St. Joe’s, said in a message sent to employees today the hospital is preparing for the “… unprecedented fiscal fallout” associated with the coronavirus pandemic.

St. Joe’s is cutting pay for senior management and planning to furlough an undetermined number of employees, he said. The hospital did not provide any details about the amount of the pay cut or how the furloughs will be carried out.

Furloughed workers will continue receiving benefits such as health, dental and basic life insurance. Luke said more information about furloughs will be available in the “days and weeks ahead.”

St. Joe’s employs about 4,800 people.

“These are difficult steps that are intended to make sure we are able to provide the best possible care for our patients and communities through this unprecedented time,” Luke said. “We hope to bring back as many of our impacted colleagues as we can at the appropriate time, and, as the situation evolves, affected colleagues may be asked to serve our system in new ways.”

At the same time it is planning to furlough some workers, St. Joe’s is adding clinical staff, beds and ventilators to respond to the pandemic, he said.

St. Joe’s, Crouse, Upstate and other hospitals statewide have been forced to cancel profitable elective surgeries to make more beds available for coronavirus patients. That has taken a toll on their finances. Over the past three weeks, Syracuse’s three hospitals have freed up nearly 300 beds.

Crouse Health has lost about $4.2 million over the past two weeks and shelled out an extra $3 million for personal protective equipment for its doctors and nurses as the hospital prepares to handle a rising number of people with coronavirus.

So far, Crouse has managed to avoid any layoffs of its 3,100 employees, but some staffers have been temporarily redeployed from two out-patient surgery centers to other areas of the hospital.

James T. Mulder covers health news. Have a news tip? Contact him at (315) 470-2245 or jmulder@syracuse.com