Western Montana Clinic lays off nurses, staff

Scores of nurses, support staff and other medical workers at Western Montana Clinic in Missoula were suddenly either laid off indefinitely or had their hours reduced last week. All affected workers were also told they can't use their paid time off to make up for lost income.

The clinic's management said the move was made in order to keep the community and staff safe from the spread of the coronavirus and was done with careful consideration, although they acknowledge the cuts are "painful."

"It was very sudden and kind of shocking to all of us," one worker told the Missoulian.

The Missoulian spoke with three separate health care workers who asked to remain anonymous, citing fear of reprisals, but each of the workers was able to separately provide the Missoulian with the same details about the announcement.

Read more: https://missoulian.com/news/local/western-montana-clinic-lays-off-nurses-staff/article_81d35a50-458d-5a2c-9017-6e9c71813908.html