Tower Health will implement temporary salary cuts of 10 percent or 15 percent for its executives and managers, including those at Brandywine, Phoenixville, and Jennersville hospitals, as COVID-19 losses continue to mount, writes Harold Brubaker for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

The move will save the nonprofit system around $11.6 million through June.

The move comes after Tower reported a massive operating loss of $439 million for the year ended June 30, 2020.

“We have not taken this action lightly,” said chief executive Clint Matthews. “Our board and leadership are focused on a thoughtful and deliberate process to chart the right path forward for Tower Health.”

Tower was hit harder by the COVID-19 outbreak than some of its competitors because the system incurred costs and lost revenue from the pandemic but did not have a large number of COVID-19 patients at most of its seven hospitals.

Tower was already on shaky financial footing even before the pandemic, as it struggled with the integration of the five community hospitals it bought in 2017 for $423 million. These included Brandywine, Phoenixville, and Jennersville hospitals in Chester County.

Read more about Tower Health in The Philadelphia Inquirer here.