|
|
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
|
|
Cuts at BRHSC Union official decries decision to eliminate more than 100 jobs Staff Writers A union official strongly criticized the state's shift toward treatment of the mentally ill in smaller hospitals Tuesday after state officials announced more than 100 Brainerd Regional Human Services Center jobs will be eliminated by early next year.
Wayne Fleischhacker, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 1574, said mentally ill patients will be given treatment medications and soon return to the community.
"The 16-bed hospital is going to be a revolving door," he said by phone Tuesday from Deer River, where he was on union business.
Michael Tessneer, chief executive officer for state operated services for the Department of Human Services, said by phone from St. Paul that the treatment of patients is getting closer to the patients' home communities through the shift away from larger institutions.
"The need for large institutional settings such as Brainerd is evaporating before our eyes," he said.
Tessneer said 116 jobs or a full-time equivalency of 106 jobs at BRHSC would be eliminated in the next three to nine months. The job descriptions fit a wide variety of workers, he said, including laundry and food workers, social workers, registered nurses, psychologists and custodians.
Remaining intact at the BRHSC campus will be the Child and Adolescent Behavioral Services program, the neurological rehabilitation hospital where people with traumatic brain injuries are treated and a chemical dependency program, Tessneer said.
He estimated that a full-time equivalent of about 200 jobs would remain on campus in addition to the number of state workers who would continue to work in area adult foster care homes.
Patrice Vick, a spokesperson for the Department of Human Services, said 418 state positions will continue to be employed in the Brained area. The number included about 34 employees who will work at the 16-bed Baxter facility when it's completed, about 160 who work in area group homes and about 200 who will continue to work on the BRHSC campus.
The Brainerd area, state officials said, would be served by not only the Baxter facility but by hospitals in Wadena and Bemidji.
Tessneer said those services remaining on the campus would not be affected by the deinstitutionalization, depending upon any decisions the city or county make about the long-term use of the site. He said the impetus behind the state's shift in policy is to provide a broad array of services closer to where clients live.
State employees, Tessneer said, will have the options of taking early retirement (if they qualify), claiming a job at a different location or accepting an enhanced separation package.
Fleischhacker said the community will feel the impact of the loss of more than 100 living wage jobs.
"I don't consider Wal-Mart jobs or retail jobs living wage jobs," he said. "You can't buy much on six bucks an hour. There will be less cars bought."
A cook at BRHSC for 21 1/2 years, Fleischhacker said he hasn't decided what he'll do when his job is gone next year but said he's reluctant to relocate for a state job in another community.
"I don't think they (state government) really give a (expletive) about state employees," he said. "They tore down the infrastructure of mental health for Minnesota."
He said the current state administration doesn't like labor unions and wants to get out of the business of treating mentally ill.
"I'd like to know whose responsibility it is to take care of these people," he said.
He was not optimistic about the future of the programs that are going to stay on campus.
"They'll be out there until the state decides they want to get rid of that campus," Fleischhacker said. "Their future is probably getting booted."
The union president said the dietary department will be shut down by April and the laundry, which currently serves St. Joseph's Medical Center, also will be shut down.
In 1988, Brainerd area task force that worked to preserve jobs at the state hospital estimated the number of state jobs on campus at that time at 642, making it the community's third-largest employer with an annual payroll of $17 million.
An employee at the central services building on the Brainerd Regional Human Services Center campus, who asked not to be identified, said the mood Tuesday was quiet and sad.
"It's been really stressful," she said. "It's one thing to know it's coming, but another thing to see your name on the list."
She said there have been meetings for the past two weeks about possible layoffs and the administration had been as up front about the cuts as possible.
"But once you see it in black and white, it's a different thing," she said.
The employee said she and others were concerned of the care the patients will receive with a reduced staff.
Brainerd Mayor James Wallin said he was disappointed to hear about the layoffs. He said the layoffs will affect not just the employees, but their families, too.
"To me that facility has truly provided excellent care for a lot of people," Wallin said. "Hopefully we can come up with another use and further employment for people at that facility."
MIKE O'ROURKE can be reached at mike.orourke@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5860.
MATT ERICKSON can be reached at matt.erickson@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5857.
|
|
|
Thinking about a New Job?
These employers want you!
|
|
Schools has an opening fo...
|
|
not a
9-5 person,
how about
11-2, 4-...
|
|
CASH!!
Independent Carrier need...
|
|
position plans sales trai...
|
|
is hiring for the following
...
|
|
|
|
Bids Being Accepted
call...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Today's Best Classifieds:
|
|
|
|
|
|
Overcast, 61°
