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2 more workers take buyouts, leave board’s nursing division
The health department is down to four full-time nurses and one part-time nurse.
YOUNGSTOWN — The Youngstown District Board of Health has lost two more employees from its nursing division to the city’s buyout program.
Severance packages were approved by the board Monday for Sandra Abrams, public health nurse and computer supervisor, and Denise Jackson, nursing assistant.
Abrams, who resigned Dec. 31, 2009, received $29,539 in accumulated sick and vacation hours and longevity time. Jackson, who resigned Dec. 25, 2009, received $2,360.
Neil Altman, city health commissioner, said the nursing division is down to four full-time nurses and one part-time nurse compared with nine before the buyout program was instituted.
Altman said all the nurses who have departed took the buyout and that money has not been allocated by city council for replacements.
In other action, the board approved 2010 contracts for its HIV Prevention Program, which provides education about AIDs and laboratory-testing services.
The contract recipients are Meridian Services, Youngstown, $36,555; Associated Neighborhood Centers, Youngstown, $7,811; Organizacion Civica y Cultural Hispana Americana (OCCHA), Youngstown, $7,811; Trumbull County Area AIDS Task Force, Warren, $19,224; and Warren City Health Department, Warren, $4,811.
Altman reported the department’s laboratory was recently licensed for two years to do testing for the Sexually Transmitted Disease Clinic. He said doing the tests in-house is less costly than using a private lab.
alcorn@vindy.com