The three hospitals belonging to the Treant Zorggroep healthcare group in the north of the country are reducing their workforce by a combined 500 jobs as a cost-cutting measure.

The three hospitals, in Emmen, Hoogeveen and Stadskanaal, are likely to make a loss this year, hence the need for what chief executive Rolf de Folter described as a ‘far-reaching decision’.

The number of patients being treated at the hospitals is declining, partly due to changes in priorities, but the switch is taking place more quickly than forecast, De Folter said.

The Treant group closed its maternity and paediatric units in Stadskanaal and Hoogeveen last year due to a shortage of specialist medical help. The two hospitals will also lose their accident and emergency departments in the near future.

Compulsory redundancies cannot be ruled out.