Forum Health layoffs concern union leaders

By Don Shilling

A unit at Northside Medical Center is closing Wednesday.

YOUNGSTOWN — Forum Health is calling the closing of a medical-surgical unit at Northside Medical Center a temporary measure, but a union official said the move raises concerns.

Forum Health laid off some employees Friday on Two North, and more layoffs could occur, said Trish Hrina, a hospital spokeswoman. She didn’t know the number of people who had been laid off.

The floor stopped taking admissions Sunday and will close Wednesday, she said.

She called the closing part of normal hospital operations and said plans call for the unit to reopen when patient volumes pick up. Patient admissions often fall during the spring, she said.

In the meantime, the hospital has other medical-surgical floors that can handle patients, she said.

Erin Kramer, a spokesman for Local 1199 of the Service Employees International Union, said union officials were told of the closing and layoffs in an e-mail Friday.

“We have questions for management. Unfortunately, we can’t get them on the phone,” she said.

The union represents aides, licensed practical nurses and housekeeping staff on the unit. Registered nurses also work on the unit, but their union official also could not be reached.

Kramer said SEIU officials were caught off guard by the announcement because Forum officials said late last year that turnaround efforts by the financially troubled system were producing results. Forum said that it had an operating profit of $16.6 million through the first 10 months of last year and was suspending efforts to sell hospitals in the system.

“We believed Forum Health was committed to making this work, but now we’re concerned,” Kramer said.

She said admissions data at Northside indicate that the hospital should be meeting revenue expectations this year.

shilling@vindy.com