Just in case the link 'ages out':

Blue Mountain Health System announced Tuesday it has laid off 16 workers and reduced the hours of seven others due in part to Obamacare.

In addition, the health system — which includes Gnaden Huetten Memorial Hospital and The Summit Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Lehighton, and Palmerton Hospital in Palmerton — has eliminated 13 vacant positions, the company announced in a news release. Senior management and department directors will have their salaries reduced by 5 to 7 percent.

"A major contributing factor for the reduction in the workforce is due to the Affordable Care Act," the company said in the release.

The release noted that to receive a $3 million federal subsidy, the health system would have to spend $5 million on information-technology and electronic-records mandates under Obamacare. "That $2 million difference hit the health system's bottom line this past fiscal year," the release said.

A reduction in Medicare reimbursements this year and a decrease in admissions also have affected the system's finances, along with an increase in employee health insurance expenses, the release noted.

"We always need to look at our staffing levels in response to our patient volume," President and CEO Andrew E. Harris said in the release. "This was not an easy decision, but we need to respond to our decreased patient volume as well as the financial constraints that many other hospitals are also experiencing."

Fifteen of the laid-off workers are full time, the release said. It did not say what positions those workers held or where they worked. In addition to its three facilities, Blue Mountain Health System also runs numerous outpatient service centers.