University of Arizona Medical Center announced it will discontinue its home health services in the next 30 days.

UAMC Home Health currently provides approximately 400 patients with intermittent nursing care in the home. Patients who require ongoing home health care will be transitioned to the care of other home health agencies in the community.

UAMC’s 36 home health staff members include nurses, therapists, social workers and others. They will receive severance packages based on their length of service and their benefits will be continued for two months. UAMC anticipates that most will find other jobs elsewhere in the UA Health Network, one of the largest employers in Tucson with more than 6,000 employees.

UAMC is making a business decision to devote its resources to services and programs not duplicated or available elsewhere in the community, such as trauma, organ transplantation and the high-tech specialty care that make UAMC a referral center for other hospitals around the state, said Karen Mlawsky, CEO of the Hospital Division of the UA Health Network.

“We are confident our patients will be well served by the many community agencies offering home-care services,” she said. “The health-care environment is changing at a rapid pace. Many providers are adapting to these changes by focusing time and limited financial resources on core business initiatives. UAMC strives to meet the needs of the community by providing services that are unavailable elsewhere.”