Warren mayor responds to layoffs and suspended service at Trumbull County hospitals
Local nurses and healthcare professionals at Insight Trumbull, formerly Trumbull Regional Medical Center, and Hillside Rehabilitation Hospital were left scrambling after the two hospitals abruptly stopped all operations March 27.
Insight laid off hundreds of employees, effective March 28, including 143 at Hillside, according to the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.
When they were laid off, employees lost their health insurance and lost income.
Employees told to go home from work due to the shutdown didn’t receive paychecks at the end of March as expected.
Tom Conelly is the vice president of AFSCME Ohio Council 8, the union that represents many Mahoning Valley healthcare professionals.
“We got a death sentence, essentially, when we were all told to leave the hospital. It amounts to a lockout,” Conelly said. “They didn’t give us pay. They haven’t spoken to us, but yesterday, they told me they were finally going to reverse partial pay, [but] there’s a lot of errors in that too, suffice it to say.”
Insight took over Trumbull Regional Medical Center and Hillside Hospital from Steward Health Care.
Steward Health Care filed for bankruptcy in May of 2024.
According to filings with the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, Insight claims Steward has stopped making payments to Insight as required under their bankruptcy proceedings.
Insight claims without these payments, they’re unable to maintain Hillside facility operations, including meeting payroll obligations.
Mayor of Warren working with Insight on solutions, calls on state leaders
Mayor Doug Franklin held a press conference at noon on Thursday at Warren City Hall.
“It’s truly a travesty for Trumbull and Hillside hospitals to be on total diversion, because the community needs both of those hospitals to be open and our workers need to be paid,” Mayor Franklin said.
Officials in Warren need Steward to make the necessary payments to Insight.
“Insight does have a plan, but they can’t do it without the funds that are being held by Steward,” he said. “I want to emphasize that the people of Trumbull County shouldn’t be burdened with paying for Stewards bankruptcy. We paid too much for Stewart problems and profits already.”
Mayor Franklin said his office is calling and working with Insight on resolutions, asking the company to communicate more transparently with its employees.
“I’m calling on our federal delegation, Senator Hustead, Senator Moreno and Congressman Joyce and all of those federal authorities to investigate [Steward],” the mayor said. “We will have letters going out to those federal delegations to ask for them to look into this matter.”
The mayor thanked community organizations who stepped up after the unexpected suspension of services, including St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Charities and Kent State University Trumbull.
“We want the hospital reopened and we want our jobs back,” Connelly said. “They may own the hospital, but they don’t own us, and they don’t own the community.”
