There’s always been a weird dynamic when it comes to The Journal News and, more recently, the outlet’s important digital platform, lohud. In a moment, I’ll get back to my story, the brutal impact of Friday’s wrenching Gannett layoffs, and my illuminating conversation with Asher Stockler, a local government accountability journalist at The Journal News/lohud, and the secretary for the Hudson Valley News Guild, a union repping the editorial staff at The Journal News, the Poughkeepsie Journal and the Times Herald-Record.īut a quick other point first. According to Dutchess County’s online COVID-19 dashboard, 77 Dutchess residents were hospitalized with COVID as of Wednesday.“A C-minus,” he immediately replied, with a wry grin. So for us to be not staffed there with them, they’re adding a whole bunch of other things that could be done by us.”Īs of Thursday, Norwood said, there were two COVID patient wards open at Vassar Brother and a third was about to be opened. “Absolutely it’s a safety concern,” she said, “because the technicians, especially the MRI technicians, they need us to set the patient up because they have to do other things … to make sure are safe before they step into the MRI room. The layoffs will result in extra work for the technicians left to do the job without assistants, Mannino said. So for every single piece of equipment, for an MRI setup, not just one thing, but for several components of the table, we have to make sure that everything is clean for the patient.” “During the time of COVID, when it first peaked, we were constantly going around making sure that everything was absolutely sanitation,” she said. So this is like a major step back.”Įspecially now, Mannino said, the services that are about to be eliminated are crucial. “I want to be there for the technologists,” she said. … I transport the patients to and from the exams, I do their paperwork, I scan their paperwork. “My primary job is to help the technicians make sure that the patients get the excellent care that Vassar upholds,” Mannino said. “During a pandemic, other people can’t do their job well unless they (the techs) do their jobs well,” Berman said. Mannino said the techs keep facilities sterile, a step that has become all the more important in the time of COVID. Norwood, Berman and radiology assistant tech Luciana Mannino said the techs provide essential services to patients in COVID-19 wards and are critical components of the safety net needed to protect patients and staff at the hospital. So it’s really not going to impact the employer.” “We’re talking about 14 members that barely make $17.57 an hour. Tomoya Norwood, Local 1199’s administrative organizer at Vassar Brothers, flatly rejected the hospital’s claim that it is saving money by laying off the techs. “On the other hand, the layoff of these particular people … doesn’t seem like a big moneymaker. “We very much understand that the industry needs support and are on their side,” Berman said. Nelson declined to discuss the total number of layoffs at Vassar Brothers or say whether more layoffs are either or planned or anticipated at that facility or Northern Dutchess Hospital in Rhinebeck, which also is part of the Nuvance Health network. This action is being made to ensure Vassar’s future success and continued mission.” We are a family, and any decision to reduce staffing is difficult and never taken lightly. Nelson added that “critically important in our planning was to minimize any impact to bedside care, especially as we prepare for any surge. Nelson, a Nuvance assistant vice president, wrote. “Unfortunately, and as much as it saddens us to do so, we are forced to implement employee reductions as we look to staff our organization based on current and future needs,” John R. In an emailed statement, a spokesman for Vassar Brothers parent company Nuvance Health said the COVID pandemic “affected many businesses and hospitals across our state and country, and Vassar Brothers Medical Center was not immune to financial losses.” – As COVID-19 cases in Dutchess County hit record highs this week, and with less than a month to go before Christmas, the company that operates Vassar Brothers Medical Center handed pink slips to 14 radiology assistant technologists – nearly all of the staff charged with assisting with CAT scans, MRIs and X-rays at the Poughkeepsie hospital.įourteen of the hospital’s 19 assistant radiology techs were notified on Wednesday that their positions would be eliminated on about Jan.
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