The ailing economy factors directly into recent moves by Novant Health to cut local hospital staffing, close a Wilmington OB/GYN clinic and place the opening of a same-day surgery center built in New Hanover County on hold indefinitely.

The North Carolina-based healthcare provider announced this week it will lay off 15 full- and part-time employees at Brunswick Community Hospital. Three hospital administrative positions were eliminated two weeks ago.

Meanwhile, the outer shell of the Wilmington Surgery Center in the Autumn Hall development off Eastwood Road is in place, but the facility remains empty and is “on pause” until the economy improves, Novant spokeswoman Amy Myers said.

The medical plaza was built to provide same-day surgery and include two operating rooms, which are not fitted out. One of the reasons Myers gave for layoffs in 13 departments at Brunswick Community Hospital was that consumers are delaying elective surgical procedures and even annual physicals to save money.

“In regards to the construction of the Wilmington Surgery Center, the shell of the building is complete, but the interior has not yet been up-fitted. The project is on pause,” Myers said.

“In this economy, we want to ensure that when we do open, we have the necessary physician support to ensure that it is successful,” she said.

Only part of the structure is reserved for the surgery center.

“The rest of the building is available for sub-lease,” Myers said.

“We support Novant and their approach," said Raiford Trask at Autumn Hall.

"Autumn Hall’s policy during this downturn has been to remain patient and get things right the first time.  We do look forward to Novant opening and expect the Surgery Center to be an important part of Autumn Hall’s integrated life style. There has been a noticeable uptick in activity at Autumn Hall recently and we’re optimistic about the next 24 months."

Novant recently announced that Cape Fear OB/GYN in Wilmington will close on Aug. 2. The practice on Shipyard Boulevard opened in 1994 and joined the Novant Medical Group in 2008.

Novant officials initially would not specify why the obstetrics/gynecological practice, which includes four doctors and two practitioners, was closing. Novant’s financial situation “did not result in the closing of this practice,” spokeswoman Amy Myers said last month.

Myers clarified the statement Thursday:

“The financial status of this practice was one consideration among others in the decision to close the practice,” she said.

Doctors and nurse practitioners who work at Cape Fear OB/GYN will not transfer to other Novant-operated properties, a common practice for the healthcare provider in the past. Company turnover rates have declined dramatically as health-care workers stay put in the shaky economy, Myers said. Brunswick Community Hospital employees who were let go were not offered jobs at other Novant facilities.

Novant, which operates 12 hospitals in three states, has looked at various ways to cut costs in an effort to provide affordable health care. The company scrutinized all expenditures, “including salary expenses,” Myers said.

Staff cuts at Brunswick Community Hospital, along with other “expense reduction initiatives” and “operational efficiency measures” at the hospital will save Novant Health about $2.4 million a year, or about $200,000 per month, Myers said.

“We knew we had to reduce expenses. We reached the point where we had to look at staff reductions,” Myers said. “It was simply based on the position they were in and how these job responsibilities could be reallocated.

The job cuts and belt tightening come at a time when Novant is in the midst of building a replacement for Brunswick Community Hospital, off U.S. 17 in Supply. Brunswick Novant Medical Center is scheduled to open in summer 2011. Novant estimates the cost of the 200,000 square-foot facility and an adjacent medical office building at about $107 million.

“We are on schedule and moving ahead with the new hospital,” Myers said. “Our commitment to build a new hospital for the residents of Brunswick County remains the same.”

At New Hanover Regional Medical Center, steps have been taken to rein in costs and the prospect of layoffs is not an immediate consideration, spokeswoman Carolyn Fisher said Friday.