Whittier Street Health Center in Roxbury, Mass., will reinstate 20 employees who were laid off earlier this month, officials said June 18.
Frederica Williams, the health center's CEO, said the layoff reversal is made possible due to "a pathway forward that will put Whittier on a stable financial footing for now."
She also credited Boston Mayor Martin Walsh's leadership and guidance, as well as support from others, for the development.
She did not go into specifics about what the "pathway" entailed, but she did say, "What we have learned in this process is that we need to review all our programs and staffing to ensure we are properly sized to deliver the best care possible to our community today and into the future."
The layoffs happened last week. Leaders with the 1199 Service Employees International Union United Healthcare Workers East claimed the move was in retaliation for workers' support of organizing efforts. They said the health center engaged in "an extremely aggressive anti-union campaign" after workers revealed May 24 they had launched unionization efforts.
Health center officials attributed the layoffs to not receiving two major grants totaling more than $600,000.
"The hope was these funds could minimize the current deficit," Ms. Williams said, citing the health center's projected financial loss of $1.2 million. "The substantial deficit for the health center and shrinking funding opportunities to close the growing financial gap are major challenges for an organization our size. Therefore, as the CEO, I took immediate steps to try to stabilize our financial future, which unfortunately included the elimination of some positions on our care team," including physicians, nurses and mental health therapists.
Now that those jobs are safe, union officials said workers "can now return to their jobs delivering high quality care to the Boston community."
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