Iowa City Hospital to Lay Off Employees Due to Losses From Pandemic
The pandemic isn't just affecting families and businesses financially, but hospitals are suffering as well.
According to a KCRG report, Mercy hospital in Iowa City plans to lay off 29 employees due to "losses suffered during the coronavirus outbreak". The Gazette states that the hospital filed a WARN notice, which according to the U.S. Department of Labor is a "Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification that helps ensure advance notice in cases of qualified plant closings and mass layoffs." The notice, filed with the Iowa Workforce Development on September 23, shows the layoffs effective on Saturday, November 21 2020.
KCRG reports that although the hospital announced it would be closing the inpatient mental and behavioral health unit before the end of the year, Hospital Spokesman Aaron Scheinblum says that the layoffs are not specifically tied to that. In an email to the Gazette, Scheinblum stated that the layoffs will affect positions from a “a variety of non-specific areas in the hospital.”
It's unfortunate that more people will be losing their jobs especially during a pandemic when it can be hard to find work. It seems as though there isn't an area that this pandemic hasn't affected. In fact, earlier this month two of the largest U.S. airlines furloughed tens of thousands of employees.
Who knows when the craziness of 2020 and the pandemic will subside, but one thing is for sure-- we're ready for it be be over.
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