UTMB to Cut 3,800 jobs (On Galveston Island, Texas)

[Ilsa]

UTMB to cut 3,800 jobs

By Laura Elder
The Daily News
Published November 13, 2008

GALVESTON — In one of the most staggering blows to both families and the county’s economy in recent memory, about 3,800 full-time jobs will be cut at the University of Texas Medical Branch as officials sharply downsize the island’s only hospital after Hurricane Ike caused severe flooding and deep financial losses.

Employees targeted for layoffs will receive pay until mid-January to help them through the holidays, said Dr. Kenneth Shine, University of Texas System interim chancellor. By the middle of next week, medical branch officials will begin unveiling a detailed plan and notifying employees about their job status.

Almost all the cuts will be at John Sealy Hospital, which, before the storm struck Sept. 13, boasted 550 beds and an elite trauma center able to handle injuries from large disasters, including petrochemical accidents.

The UT System Board of Regents’ unanimous decision Wednesday to cut thousands of jobs at the county’s largest employer, and greatly reduce clinical enterprises, ends weeks of painful limbo for the 8,000 people who work on the island campus. But it also creates new uncertainty and has severe repercussions for thousands of people who rely on John Sealy Hospital for medical care.

SNIP

[readmoreoften]

1. So that's good! UT stock will skyrocket!

:sarcasm: Just kidding. I thought a little popcorn fodder would help keep the thread kicked.

[Ilsa]

3. LOL.Thanks. Even news this bad deserves a kick. nt

[AnneD]

2. We are talking about a burn unit too...

and they want to open 2 new casinoes....now there is a winner. Careers in exchange for minimum wage jobs. This is a major medical center in the region and a teaching hospital. This is a man made disaster.

[Ilsa]

4. I have worked with so many people who were trained there.

It's a horrible trade-off, casino wages for professional jobs. The amount of money circulating in the region will be significantly lower, especially when the middle class doesn't have the money to go gambling.