WLKM Radio 95.9 FM
Employees from Sturgis Hospital attended Wednesday’s Sturgis City Commissioners meeting to seek support in calling for transparency and accountability from the hospital’s top executives.
The group of employees included nurses from the Michigan Nurses Association, and members of the Sturgis Hospital General Employees Association and Technical Employees Association.
Recent cuts have eliminated the OB unit and approximately 60 hospital employees have been laid off. Although public pressure from the union-sponsored town hall meeting Dec. 3 has stopped the closing of the Oncology Unit, there is no guarantee that it will stay open permanently.
Charlie Persinger, an emergency room nurse, said current and former employees were present to ask commissioners to take action for the health of the patients and this community. Persinger said the cuts will have a devastating effect on the community, in terms of access to care, and as a barrier to continued economic growth for Sturgis and the surrounding area.
