Seven staff members have been laid off from the Motion Picture and Television Fund's long-term care facility, the MPTF said Wednesday.
Friday will be the seven staffers last work day, but their pay extends beyond that depending on the terms of their separation agreements.
The move follows the consolidation of all of the MPTF’s 49 long-term care residents into a single facility on its Wasserman Campus.
The layoffs had been widely expected once the MPTF shuttered its 1960s-era Pavillion in May. The fund has been deflecting over a year of bad publicity stemming from its plans to close its in-patient hospital and long-term care unit.
On Wednesday, MPTF CEO and President Bob Beitcher said that even with the cuts, the long-term care facility still has met all of its licensed requirements.
“As indicated in our announcement of the consolidation several months ago, having all of our long-term care residents in a single purpose and more modern facility is allowing us to provide a higher quality of care and operate more efficiently,” Beitcher said in a statement. “All staff members covered by this reduction in force will be provided with an equitable separation package as is MPTF's policy."
Andy Suser, co-founder of Saving Our Lives, the grassroots group formed to keep the hospital open, decried the staff reductions.
“Important staffing issues existed prior to this lay-off,” Suser told TheWrap. “This can only compound the problems the residents face.”
