Eastern State To Fire 70, Shut Down Ward State Budget Cuts Forcing Layoffs; Managers Negotiating With Unions Before Pink Slips Go Out

Eastern State Hospital plans to fire 70 workers and close a psychiatric ward in the coming months to meet state money cuts.

Before the pink slips are sent to more than 10 percent of the employees at the Medical Lake mental hospital, managers must negotiate with employees unions.

Union leaders says the hospital’s plan, which it has not made public, protects high-paid employees at the expense of dozens of hands-on workers who are among the lowest-paid at the hospital.

“My position is they haven’t offered up people that make more than $100,000 a year,” said Kandys Dygert, area representative for Washington Federation of State Employees.

Union and hospital officials met Tuesday to discuss the layoffs, which the hospital claims would save taxpayers millions of dollars.

The plans sprang from state demands to shave $2.1 million and 30 patient beds from hospital costs. Further cuts are expected in the hospital’s budget now being crafted by the state Legislature.

To meet an anticipated $68 million, two-year budget, hospital administrators estimate 70 workers must go.

“It is not a finalized list” of people to be fired, said Steven Covington, chief executive officer for the hospital.

Covington described the firing list as only a proposal to be discussed with the hospital’s three worker unions.

He also said the layoffs and shutting the ward will not compromise hospital services or safety.

“We will continue to provide excellent care,” he said.

There are now 14 patients in the psychiatric ward slated for closing. If the people aren’t ready to be released they will be put in other units at the hospital, Covington said.

Closing the ward eliminates 28 jobs and 30 beds. Another 42 workers also are on the chopping block.

Ousted workers may be notified by the end of the month and be unemployed by July.

The largest worker group hit by the proposed layoffs is the mental health technicians, who make less than $30,000 a year.

The hospital plan would fire 19 technicians, who provide patients with basic needs like bathing, recreation and meals.

A senior technician said the hospital administrators originally assured workers the cuts would be equitable, trimming both the higher- and lower-salaried jobs.

“They whacked off the bottom,” he said.

The worker, who asked not to be identified for fear of reprisal, said the cuts will make the worker-patient ratio dangerously low at the hospital. “We’re losing the quality workers…. It’s not going to be safe.”

Despite the cuts, the hospital’s plan also calls for hiring two new psychologists at a cost of more than $60,000 each in salaries and benefits.

Negotiations between the hospital and its workers union is expected to last through April. Hospital planning documents indicate administrators want an agreement with the unions on who will get fired by April 30.