A staffing consultant is reviewing King’s Daughters MedicalCenter’s employment practices roughly one week after the decisionto terminate 40 jobs was announced, hospital officials said.

KDMC Chief Executive Officer Alvin Hoover said the hospital hasvoluntarily brought in a consultant from Tennessee-based QuorumHealth Resources to inspect the hospital’s employment efficiency.Quorum is a hospital management company that providesadministrators – including Hoover – and management services tohospitals around the country.

“We just brought a staffing consultant in to help us look atwhat we’re doing and if we’re doing it the most efficient waypossible,” Hoover said.

Hoover said the consultant, who arrived Wednesday, will conducta two-day study of the hospital, after which a report will beissued to KDMC administrators.

“We’ll know a good bit by the time she leaves if we’re doingthings the right way,” he said. “We’re looking at everything we’redoing right now, trying to be as efficient as we possibly can.”

Quorum’s Web site identifies the work done during a preliminarystaffing assessment as analyzing payroll and patient volume data,interviewing department heads and making various staffing andproductivity inquiries.

The goals of such an assessment are to provide an overall anddepartmental evaluation of staffing levels, compare local practicesto national practices and target efficient staffing levels bydepartment.

Hoover said the consultant had no input on the initial decisionto release 40 employees. He hinted last week that further job cutscould become a possibility as the hospital struggles to cover closeto $1 million in lost revenue attributed to a decrease in electivesurgeries and an increase in uninsured patients.

The job cuts represent a work force reduction of 7 percent fromKDMC, one of Lincoln County’s five largest employers, formerly with570 full- and part-time employees.