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Posted: Friday, 23 October 2009 2:45PM
Oak Forest Hospital eliminates 200 jobs
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OAK FOREST, Ill. (STNG) -- There have been better weeks for employees at Cook County's Oak Forest Hospital.
A plan to revamp county health services -- cut inpatient services at Oak Forest and expand outpatient care -- has them wondering what's in store for their hospital and whether patients will continue to get the care they need.
Then Wednesday, in a separate effort, 200 jobs were eliminated at the hospital at 15900 S. Cicero Ave. in Oak Forest.
Nurses, dietary workers and transportation workers, among others, were told their last day will be Jan. 3.
County health officials say it was a necessary step to save $60 million and is separate from implementation of a new strategic plan for the health and hospitals system's future.
A portion of the layoffs were included in the 2009 budget of $882 million already approved by the Cook County Board. The rest are part of the system's 2010 budget, requested for $887 million.
An outside company hired last year identified which jobs the then-newly formed nine-member hospital board should eliminate. The board was created to depoliticize the operation of the massive and cash-strapped county health care system.
"A lot of this is catching up with the cuts from 2007 where the services were cut but the staff wasn't," system spokesman Lucio Guerrero said, referring to the cuts to nearly all of Oak Forest's long-term care beds two years ago.
For instance, he said, Oak Forest hospital had two dietary service workers for every one patient.
Because the strategic plan - spanning the next three years - will take time to implement, Guerrero said the county approved layoffs to save dollars in the meantime. He said some workers could be rehired once the plan is in place.
Still, Oak Forest Hospital workers who did not want to be identified said they fear the strategic plan could lead to more service cuts and job losses.
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Copyright 2009 STNG Wire, The Chicago Sun-Times. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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