KANSAS CITY, KAN. ? The Kansas University Medical Center will lay off six people as part of a reorganization of its public relations efforts, officials said Monday.

Those six — all part of the university relations division that published KU Med magazine — will lose their jobs June 30, said David Adkins, vice chancellor for external affairs. Adkins said he had been evaluating public relations efforts to make them more efficient since he started in the position in June 2004.

“This is just one of the more difficult steps in getting there,” Adkins said. “It’s never something you want to do when you impact people’s lives. Sometimes, as an administrator, you have to make those tough decisions to get to where you ought to go.”

The six employees were informed of the nonrenewal of their contracts Thursday. Randy Attwood, who led the university relations department and was among those whose jobs were cut, didn’t return a message seeking comment Monday.

The university relations staff has primarily done publications for the KU Medical Center departments since 1998, when the University of Kansas Hospital split from the university to be governed by an independent board. Under an agreement between the two entities, hospital public relations staff members handle media inquiries for both hospital and medical center matters.

The layoffs cut the number of people employed by the KU Medical Center dedicated to public relations from nine to three, not counting those under contract at the hospital. The School of Medicine has two people dedicated to external affairs, and another is assigned to the schools of nursing and allied health.

Adkins said with so many people dedicated to similar efforts, there was some duplication in roles.

“Unfortunately, the consolidation has consequences for people when it results in a reorganization,” he said.

Adkins said he didn’t know the future of the KU Med magazine. Portions of the magazine’s production may be outsourced. He also said more effort could be put into Web-based information.

Adkins said he didn’t expect any further layoffs as a result of his assessment of public relations activities. He said a marketing director might be hired in the future.

“I think this is the major reconfiguration,” he said.