Over the side they go

Facing $114 million in state budget cuts, Boston Medical Center announced yesterday that 250 employees will be laid off or have their hours reduced and that patient services will be cut in key areas, including primary care, pediatrics, and geriatrics.

More than half of the hospital's patients are low-income residents, so the reductions are likely to hit hardest on the city's most vulnerable, the immigrants, poor families, and senior citizens who receive free or subsidized care at the hospital, patient advocates said. The cuts were to take effect immediately.

[From Boston Medical to cut staff, services - The Boston Globe]