180 employees laid off at University of Chicago Medical Center

CHICAGO - The University of Chicago Medical Center has laid off 180 of its employees.

"After careful consideration, we made the difficult decision to separate about 180 employees from the University of Chicago Medical Center," the medical center confirmed Thursday.

Officials say the reason for the layoffs is due to facing "the same challenges" as other health systems across the U.S. Further details on those challenges haven't been released.

Most of the positions that were affected are not "direct patient-facing" and the medical center says the layoffs will not impact patient care.

Employees who were let go were notified on Thursday and were provided a severance package.

"This decision was not made lightly or easily but is necessary to position us to deliver on our mission and enhance the quality of care that we provide. We continue to review further ways to operate more efficiently."