Why is Seattle Children’s Cutting Jobs? What State Dems, Gov. Are Not Telling You

Seattle Children's hospital will be laying off 154 workers, according to a WARN Alert from WA State Employment Security.

   What's behind cuts?

 Seattle Children's has released a statement indicating deep cuts in Federal and state funding as the reason why the workers in  Seattle, Bellevue, Everett, Federal Way, Kennewick and other areas are going away. They are laying off 1.5 percent of their total workforce, and released a statement that read in part:

"...we are making some difficult but necessary decisions to secure Children’s future and protect our ability to deliver compassionate care and life-saving research for the patients and families who need us."

It is not known specifically how many will go at each of those venues. Seattle Children's has a Tri City clinic in Kennewick.

The state and Federal cuts took place some time before any Federal reductions were made as part of the Big Beautiful Bill.  Despite statements from Governor Ferguson, the cuts were actually pushed through by Democratic legislators who slashed the money through the legislature. GOP House Rep. Travis Couture laid out the facts on his GOP House page August 18th:

"According to the nonpartisan Office of Program Research, the budget passed by Democrats and signed by Gov. Bob Ferguson in 2025 slashes over $782 million from Medicaid — $446 million in federal funds and $336.5 million in state matching dollars. Nearly 95% of the reductions hit general medical care, services for people with disabilities and seniors, and long-term care assistance."

The Federal reductions stem from states being asked to shoulder more of the Medicaid and healthcare burdens themselves.  Many states have their programs funded as much as 80 percent by the Feds.

Get our free mobile app

Hospitals were also hit with new taxes in WA, to the tune of $126 million in 2026, and rising to $239 million by 2027. WA state hospitals have already lost nearly $4 billion over the last four years. So when state officials blame the Federal government, know that the primary damage was also laid out weeks before by the Officials who are blaming the Feds.

The Seattle Children's workers will be laid off beginning November 15th.