Boyce & Bynum plans mass layoffs
A Columbia laboratory has told state regulators will lay off 177 employees as it is acquired by Quest Diagnostics.
“We realize that any job reduction is painful for families and the community. In recent days, we notified our employees of these developments,” Boyce & Bynum said in a statement. ” We did not make these decisions lightly, and only did so after reviewing our options in a challenging healthcare landscape.”
Boyce & Bynum Pathology Laboratories included the number in a filing with the Missouri Department of Economic Development. Such filings are required when a company plans mass layoffs.
The job layoffs are expected at Boyce & Bynum’s site on Portland Street in Columbia, and will take place starting Feb. 8 and continue in March and April, according to the notice. The employees will have a chance to apply for jobs with Quest.
The Department of Economic Development’s Division of Workforce Development has contacted the company to offer employee transition assistance, said department spokeswoman Maggie Kost. The department also maintains job centers to help employees affected by layoffs, Kost wrote in an email.
Quest announced last week that it had signed an agreement to acquire Boyce and Bynum’s assets and clinical lab business. Boyce and Bynum, based on Portland Street in Columbia, will keep control of its anatomic pathology division, Boyce and Bynum Pathology Professional Services, Inc., and its long-term care division.
Quest did not reveal the terms of the transaction, but said in a news release that the acquisition will deepen the company’s presence in the region. Quest has more than 45,000 employees nationwide.
Quest and Boyce & Bynum representatives met last Wednesday to discuss a transition plan. Quest has been acquiring labs and medical centers around the country over the past year.
On Nov. 6, Quest completed its acquisition of the U.S. laboratory services business of Oxford Immunotec offering tuberculosis and tick-borne disease testing services in Massachusetts and Tennessee.
In September Quest acquired a national provider of specialized anatomic pathology, PhenoPath, based in Seattle.
