Northeast Hospital Corp. laid off 22 people on Tuesday in what hospital officials called a "management restructuring."

Chief Operating Officer Pauline Pike said the layoffs included directors, managers and supervisors at Addison-Gilbert Hospital here on Cape Ann, Beverly Hospital, BayRidge Hospital in Lynn and Beverly Hospital's medical center in Danvers. Those locations employ 2,800 people in all.

"This was not a layoff of frontline service providers of the rank and file," Pike said. "We didn't lay off nurses or pharmacists. This was at the management level."

The layoffs came after a six- to nine-month study of the company's management structure with the aid of a national consulting firm, Pike said. She called the layoff a "right-sizing of that management structure."

Pike said the layoffs included both newer and longtime employees and was not related to their job performance.

"We had some real high-performing, and in some instances long-term, employees," she said. "It was a very difficult process. It's sad for the individuals affected by this. We take it very, very seriously."

Pike said there are no plans for more layoffs "at this time."

"This was really about organizational effectiveness," she said. "We're not in a financial crisis. We always keep a careful eye on our volume and our financials."

Staff writer Paul Leighton can be reached at 978-338-2675 or by e-mail at pleighton@gloucestertimes.com.