CEO Paul Taylor said in a letter dated Wednesday that the layoffs will occur during the next 60 days. The hospital has about 800 employees, with 500 working in the Springfield area.

The Springfield News-Leader reports (http://sgfnow.co/1iBgyek) Taylor blamed the layoffs on the Missouri Legislature’s failure to expand Medicaid in the state.

Taylor says even if the state eventually expands Medicaid, hospitals are unlikely to recapture the ground they are losing because of what he called political posturing.

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Information from: Springfield News-Leader, http://www.news-leader.com