BANDON — Southern Coos Hospital & Health Center is cutting paid staff hours by 10 percent in an effort to contain expenses. The cuts are part of a mandatory cost containment program the hospital is requiring its managers to initiate.

“It was a management decision to make these cuts,” said CEO Jim Wathen.

Although the summer months are normally slow at the hospital, when September arrived and the work load was still down, hospital administrators realized they had to cut costs. Those cuts would have to go deeper than targeting education, seminars, travel and other costs that do not involve patient care.

“This year was not like previous years,” Wathen said.

Rather than laying off people, managers and shift supervisors decided to send people home when the work load is slow on a shift.

Hospital mammography technologist Debra Braun read a letter to the hospital’s board of directors at a recent meeting, offering suggestions on how to bring money back to the hospital. She suggested more effective use of resources, personnel and equipment.

Braun said she feared the 10 percent loss of income will particularly impact the lower-waged employees.

Within two or three months, administrators hope to have good idea where things will be at the end of the fiscal year and to start bringing back hours, if possible, Wathen said.

“We realize this is very hard on everybody,” Wathen said.