Pocono News Section

Geisinger to Lay Off 400 in South Wilkes-Barre

Geisinger to Lay Off 400 in South Wilkes-Barre - Thursday, June 26, 2008 at 7:47PM EST

Reported by: Eric Deabill
Thursday, Jun 26, 2008 @ 07:47pm EST

WILKES-BARRE, LUZERNE COUNTY- Around 400 hundred workers at Geisinger will lose their jobs. We're told industry changes are to blame.

Chief Medical Officer Steve Pierdon said, “There's still a fair amount of uncertainty about how this will play out, but at this point, people are acting professional. They want to take care of their patients, but they're concerned about their jobs and families."

Geisinger Health operates two Wilkes-Barre area campuses. Three years ago it took over the former Mercy South Wilkes-Barre. That campus will now focus on same day and in patient services. Pierdon says, ”It's a unique model for the region. It will position us to provide the best of healthcare in the region."

But people say the impact of 400 layoffs is stinging. And while Geisinger hails the change as an evolution of services, there are doubts. Janisha Palmer of Wilkes-Barre says, “This is the closest hospital to us. We can walk here. The other hospital we can't walk there. We don't have a car, so that's not fair to people who don't have a car.”

Shortly after the news of the layoffs trickled out, the union representing workers responded, and they weren't happy.