(PRWEB) -- Health care employment continued growing in October despite the shedding of jobs in most other areas during the U.S. recession - almost 600,000 jobs have been added since its start, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. They also said 29,000 more people were employed in October than in September. Despite that, there was troubling news in October on the health care layoff front, as it seemed like hospital systems were running out of ways to say "we're not firing doctors and nurses, just administrators."
As in the past few months, the trend of closing specialty clinics and medical centers continued through October; psychiatric care centers in North Dakota and Utah and a clinic serving American Indians in California announced service cuts. A hospital in New Jersey said they would eliminate "some" nurses when they cut 19 positions. And, perhaps most troubling, the economy has affected Planned Parenthood, often the only source for women in need of reproductive health care; in Indianapolis, 25 jobs were lost and five clinics were closed.
October was also a difficult month for several device companies; EnteroMedics, Inc., was forced to cut their work force by 40 percent after an anti-obesity medical device failed its clinical trial (The Business Journal), and LCA-Vision, Inc., a provider of laser vision correction services, will be closing ten offices and laying off 15 percent of their workforce (The Cincinnati Enquirer). Also, at least two health care systems have put into action plans to outsource their IT services, saving money by laying off those employees.
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Tags: healthcare, recession, employment, jobs
Categories: News