Employees at mental hospitals in Mount Pleasant, Iowa and Clarinda, Iowa were informed that they will be laid off, a union leader told The Des Moines Register.
Danny Homan, Iowa president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, told the publication that workers at the Mount Pleasant institution were notified that the first round of layoffs there will take effect March 30. Workers at the Clarinda facility were informed that they can expect the first round of layoffs there to begin April 20, he said in the report.
The news comes after Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad (R) announced plans to close both facilities by July 1, according to the report. Services would move to community programs or to state mental health institutions in Independence and Cherokee. The governor has stood by his plan, telling The Des Moines Register that Iowa is trying to improve community services as part of a mental health redesign, and will work with legislators during that process.
But lawmakers have urged the governor to not move so quickly with closing the mental hospitals in Mount Pleasant and Clarinda, according to the report.
Officials with the Department of Human Services have indicated that if the facilities close, about 150 employees would lose jobs at Mount Pleasant and Clarinda, according to the report.
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