As if the local economic news wasn't bad enough, the local hospital, one of Wyoming's most significant hospitals as it is a regional hospital, announced yesterday that its laying off 58 employees and not filling another 50 vacant positions. Pretty grim news in all sorts of ways.
The hospital reported that it has decreased income and more patients, which isn't quite what I expected to be the reason for this event. It also came right out and stated that if the legislature had approved Medicaid expansion, which it could have done at no cost to the state itself, the layoffs may have been less severe.
That latter item is, it should be noted, becoming an issue in the current election around the state. Smelling blood in the water for the first time in years, this is one of the issues that the Democrats have been campaigning on, and frankly the GOP doesn't look too good on this one. The layoffs will emphasize that locally.
The hospital, being a major institution, always draws a lot of attention, and frankly criticism. It's hard, however, to imagine anyone not feeling pretty concerned about this development. Just up until recently the hospital was expanding, but it's also been in a prolonged economic struggle with a new private hospital that provides more limited services but is a "for profit" hospital. Indeed, the last couple of times I've had to take somebody to the Emergency Room, I've gone there. Quicker. At any rate, this isn't good news.
No comments:
Post a Comment