Western Missouri Medical Center cut 41 staff positions Friday, according to a hospital news release.

Darinda Reberry, WMMC president and CEO, said the cuts were were difficult.

“This was not a decision that we wanted to have to make,” Reberry said in a written statement. “Our team worked diligently to reduce operating expenses in other avenues to eliminate as few positions as possible. By eliminating and combining roles, we were able to avoid extreme hour reductions of all our employees.”

The hospital also plans to close its clinic in Holden, Western Missouri Family Healthcare – Holden, on March 3. The clinic opened in 2009 as WMMC’s first expansion of family health clinics. Additional operating expense reductions include reduced contracted services and the reorganization of its leadership last fall.