FOUNTAIN SPRINGS - More than 90 former employees of Saint Catherine Medical Center Fountain Springs learned about coping with unemployment during a Rapid Response information session Wednesday.
"We provided them with a lot of information, an overwhelming amount of information," said moderator Richard Parry, regional representative for the Bureau of Workforce Development Partnership, Rapid Response Coordination Services of the state Department of Labor & Industry.
"We give them a lot of resources and phone numbers that they can follow up with," Parry said. "You have to present them with the information for a large range of needs, then they sort it out at home. We'll be coming back over the next couple of months to continue to provide some additional information."
Rapid Response is an early intervention program that helps workers and employers affected by layoffs, plant closures or natural disasters. It provides access to the commonwealth's PA CareerLink system of resources and information to help workers find jobs.
"The session was very informative but I didn't like that they called it a 'rapid response' when it's two weeks after we got laid off," said Tom Heiser, Girardville, who was in charge of computer operations at the hospital and was an employee for seven years. "This information should have been available to us two days after we got laid off."
Heiser said there was a major lack of communication within the facility.
"People were never given notice of termination," Heiser said. "They just closed the doors and said we don't need you anymore. I got a letter yesterday that I'm laid off. I haven't been paid since March 20."
"I never had this problem with any other owner," said phlebotomist Monica Boyer, Lavelle, who was employed for nine years. "We hit our lows but it was never this bad. As soon as these people took over, everything just started going downhill. I thought I'd retire here. I loved it here. It's so close to home."
Other former employees also said they appreciated the information but expressed their anger with the hospital's management.
In addition to Parry's office, organizations and agencies presenting information Wednesday were Luzerne/Schuylkill County Workforce Investment, Schuylkill County CareerLink, Schuylkill United Way, Consumer Credit Counseling Services, Schuylkill Community Action, Highmark Blue Shield, Schuylkill Alliance for Healthcare Access, U.S. Department of Labor's Employee Benefit Security Administration, and Labor & Industry's Allentown Unemployment Compensation Service Center.
The CareerLink office in Pottsville has been keeping up with the additional flow of people looking for jobs and assistance.
"It's sad what's happening but there is help out there in the employment market for these folks," said Schuylkill County CareerLink Program Supervisor Joseph Miscannon. "There's help in learning how to write a resume, learning how to brush up on their interview skills, what the labor market in the county and the state is reflecting."
Miscannon said there are people who had worked for the facility for more than 20 years, so they could use help getting back into the job market.
"There is help. They just need to ask," Miscannon said.
"The hard part starts now. This is just the beginning of the process," Parry said. "We provide the information. Now we hope they utilize the information and take advantage of it. They need to work with CareerLink and the agencies. We don't want them to feel abandoned. That's a big thing that dislocated workers say, but we're not going to let that happen."