Oregon Public Broadcasting

Portland's largest employer will have to lay off an undetermined number of employees by next month.

Declining investments and the economic recession caused Oregon Health and Science University to lose almost $45 million this fiscal year.

OHSU says it will proceed cautiously and make cuts to help regain $30 to $35 million by next June.

Provost Lesley Hallick says the economic downturn has forced the school to freeze on new hiring, stop one time payments like bonuses and reduce spending on construction and improvements.

Lesley Hallick: "Anything that could be stopped or paused, we have paused to preserve cash. In other words it's a lot like you do at home in these times, you just look at everything and say do we really have to do that right now or can we wait a little while."

Hallick says 60 percent of OHSU's budget is personnel, making layoffs necessary.

She says despite the cuts, the institution is, and will remain stable.

OHSU employs more than 12,000 people.