LOGANSPORT — Beginning today, food services at all state hospitals, including Logansport, will be handled by Aramark Correction Services — a move that cut the local workforce from 27 to 20.
The statewide transition will save the state $1.6 million annually, said Neal Moore, spokesman for the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration.
“When we entered into this agreement with them, we wanted to make sure Aramark would agree to try and place those employees within Aramark and hire those who are interested and qualified for the available positions,” he said.
The 20 employees who are keeping their jobs will keep their current state salary and level of seniority, Moore said. Of the remaining seven, five employees were offered positions but opted for a layoff, one accepted disability and one took another state position.
“There was a concerted effort to soften the blow to these employees,” Moore said. “While we took this step, we wanted to be of assistance to the employees that would be affected.”
The patient population in Logansport was reduced about two years ago when the hospital sent 110 people with severe mental illness to other state hospitals, and released to community living 66 patients who were dually diagnosed with a mental illness and developmental disability or had a severe mental illness.
The state initially announced that it would eliminate 355 of the hospital’s 902 jobs, but it eventually scaled back that number based on attrition and on a change in the number of patients to be transferred out. In the end, the change resulted in slightly more than 100 layoffs.
Moore said the latest move would reduce meal costs statewide from between $6.30 and $7.61 per meal to between $4.62 and $5.87.