Akron General Health System is laying off over 130 employees as it looks at a weaker financial situation.

The hospital system is laying off 132 workers through the entire Akron General system, on the heels of a $4 million loss last year.

Spokesman Jim Gosky says that health care reform is one big reason behind the need to pare down.

"The health care environment is changing as we speak, with the Affordable Care Act and some other reductions that have come into play with that," Gosky tells AkronNewsNow.com, "reimbursements we get from Medicare and Medicaid are being reduced all the time."

Gosky says the hospital system is seeing less elective surgery due to high patient insurance deductibles.

"People are not choosing to have surgery, elective procedures anymore because many of them are in high deductible health plans," Gosky says, "and if you're have a high top dollar high deductible health plan, you don't want to pay that out of pocket."

Gosky says it was a difficult, but financially necessary, decision to trim the hospital system's workforce.

"It was a very difficult day to say the least, because these were all very valued, dedicated employees," says Gosky. "We hated to see them go, but financial issues that are beyond our control really forced the issue.

The cuts at Akron General come weeks after competitor Summa laid off 54 employees, citing many of the same concerns.