Cedars-Sinai Medical Center to Close over 100 Employees, including pharmacists, administrative support staff, patient support representatives and management personnel, in a move the hospital said was necessary to cut costs as it faces a “difficult financial situation”.

The workers being laid off are not unionized, the hospital told government officials in a legally binding notice that lists dozens of different categories of employees affected by the layoffs. The reduction is less than 1% of the workforce at Cedars-Sinai facilities and primarily affects “non-residential positions”, according to a Cedars-Sinai spokesperson.

In a statement, the hospital blamed the growing gap between its income and expenses “as a result of underpayments from government insurance programs and rising costs of patient care, among other factors.”

“We understand that these changes are difficult and painful, and we have done everything possible to avoid them,” Cedars-Sinai said in a statement.

The layoffs will affect 131 employees at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, a spokesman said, down from the numbers the hospital originally told the state. Cedars-Sinai has also laid off about two dozen employees at other companies associated with Cedars-Sinai.

The Cedars-Sinai layoffs come as industry groups raised concerns about the financial health of California hospitals amid rising labor and supplies costs. Hospital systems across the country were announcement of layoffs this year, citing pressure from rising costs.

Madera Community Hospital closed this winter in the San Joaquin Valley; In Los Angeles County, Beverly Montebello Hospital recently filed for bankruptcy protection, saying it is trying to avoid the same fate, and previously announced it would no longer assist births in its maternity ward or admit babies for inpatient care.

However, the cuts at Cedars-Sinai are far more modest in scope for a large employer, “not a signal that the hospital is in trouble,” said Glenn Melnick, a USC professor who specializes in health finance. Melnick said that as hospitals anticipate further increases in labor costs and grapple with losses in the stock market, “prudent places are adjusting early.”

Rand Corp Economist Christopher Whaley described the Cedars-Sinai contraction as “a normal fluctuation, not something that I think is indicative of a bigger problem” with finances.

California lawmakers decided this week to offer a lifeline to hardest-hit hospitals to prevent them from shutting down by voting in a $150 million loan to financially struggling nonprofit and public hospitals. California Hospital Assn. is pushing for a much larger injection of $1.5 billion into the upcoming state budget, but lawmakers are also facing a projected budget deficit of $22.5 billion.

Pyrite was long thought to be a shiny mineral, also known as fool’s gold – was a special ingredient that gave the fossils found in the German Posidonium Shale their golden radiance. But now scientists think something else is causing these fossils to shimmer.

Earlier this year, a team of international researchers visited an Early Jurassic site known for its exceptionally well-preserved fossils of marine animals. They collected dozens of specimens of fossilized ammonites, bivalves and crustaceans the size of a palm or more.