Peggy Vlerebome, Madison Courier Staff Writer
Fifty people lost their jobs at King's Daughters' Hospital and Health Services on Tuesday, President and CEO Roger Allman said this morning.
Both part-time and full-time employees' jobs were cut. The cuts, when the hours are added together, represent a decrease of 46 full-time positions, he said.
Allman had said in February that tightening work hours and overtime had saved the equivalent of 60 jobs without letting anyone go, but that more would have to be done as KDH struggles with the recession.
Allman said he doesn't expect to have to make more worker cuts.
Employees whose jobs were cut got the news from their department director and a hospital vice president, Allman said.
"No one likes to cause pain for others," Allman said. "It was very painful for this organization to go through."
Each employee was given a packet of information about their paid time off, state unemployment benefits and KDH benefits, he said.
Employees who needed help carrying belongings to their cars were given help by security guards, he said. One man who has difficulty with stairs had everything carried out so he wouldn't have to go up and down steps for multiple trips, he said.
Allman said in February that he was taking a 15 percent cut in pay and the vice presidents were taking 10 percent cuts.
At that time, Allman said one impact of the recession would be downsizing in hospital employment, he said this signals that the recession is different from previous recessions. Before, hospitals were immune from the worst effects.
He expects a turnaround to take a while, and to permanently change hospitals for the good. But he doesn't think the recession will ease anytime soon.
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