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Mayo Clinic announced Friday it will implement temporary salary reductions and furloughs of some staff after April 28 in its response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

A statement released by the health system said though the clinic is doing extraordinary work in the response to the pandemic, it is facing unprecedented challenges as a result of the changing circumstances.

These challenges have made a financial impact that requires “significant adjustments” to operations.

“The decision to proactively postpone elective patient care was the right one, but it eliminated the majority of our revenue at the same time we are making critical investments to develop and expand testing, conduct research to stop the pandemic and re-align our facilities and care teams to treat COVID-19 patients,” Mayo Clinic said.

The health system said it is taking steps to reduce expenses, but additional measures were needed to ensure it could emerge from the situation in a stable position.

Full pay and benefits for employees will be protected through April 28, but temporary furloughs of some staff and salary reductions will be required after that time.

“We will work with our teams in the coming weeks to ensure that our staff are supported, that the duration of this disruption is as limited as possible, and that we are ready to ramp up quickly and resume full operations when it is safe to do so,” the statement said.

The clinic said the  number of Mayo Clinic staff who will have a reduction in pay is about one-third of the 70,000 workforce. No specific numbers to related sites or departments will be announced at this time.