12:50 PM CDT on Friday, October 14, 2005

Meg Farris / WWL-TV Medical Reporter

Over 100 employees of Meadowcrest Hospital staged an early morning protest in front of the building Friday to complain about the possible loss of their jobs if the facility continues to be used by the parish to house emergency workers.

Jefferson Parish President Aaron Broussard commandeered the building after the storm and it is currently being used to house emergency and FEMA workers and employees from West Jefferson and East Jefferson hospitals.

The owners of Meadowcrest have said that if they can't get their building back soon, they'll have to send layoff notices to nearly 700 workers.

WWL-TV

Jefferson Parish President Aaron Broussard.

Broussard said he had talked to Tenet officials and would meet with them Monday to try to work out a partial reopening of the hospital, but he remained adamant that he needs the building to house emergency workers.

“My first obligation is to house what I consider my tier one public employees, which are the doctors and nurses and medical staff of East Jefferson and West Jefferson who are public employees, my law enforcement officers from the sheriff’s offices to the municipalities, and my public employees that are here actually restoring services to the parish,” Broussard said.

Some of the protesters disagreed.

"About 700 jobs are going to be lost so he can use this as a hotel," said one worker. "They have hotels available in New Orleans, on the west bank and east bank."

The Meadowcrest employees said they are afraid they'll have to look for work elsewhere if they don't get some assurances soon.

“We can't go back to work. I’m a single parent, I have a child and a mortgage and I’m told that West Jeff people are living in our hospital. That's unfair because I spent seven horrible days in this hospital trying to take care of people by my choice because I am a nurse,” said Patricia Mirambell.

Hospital workers said Meadowcrest was supposed to be returned to them this Saturday so they could get it ready to reopen on November 1. On Wednesday, Broussard announced that the parish was still in a state of emergency for at least another two weeks, so the hospital remains under parish control.

Now, these nurses fear they won't get to go back to work and care for their community any time soon and their pay checks from tenet stop on the 31st.

“Which means that we are not going to have a job...At the end of the month there’ll be 682 Meadowcrest employees that will have to leave this community to find healthcare work elsewhere and we don't want to, we want to stay here,” said Stacey Grooch, Meadowcrest E.R. Director.

The employees said they are also angry by the lack of answers to phone calls and e-mails regarding their future.

“I personally had already done that and e-mailed Aaron Broussard, Chris Roberts and Tom Capella,” said Meadowcrest charge nurse Tom Piacun.

Piacun said he has not received any response so far.

“Aaron Broussard is basically where the buck stops and we’re just asking him to let us get back to work,” said Christian Harris, Meadowcrest E.R. charge nurse.

Broussard said he still needs the hospital because he has not received FEMA approval for other housing sites.

“I've talked to everyone, from the President of the United States, to the top of the FEMA department that is here in Louisiana; I've talked to everyone but until I get this housing moving down the line—and it's coming—but until it moves down the line I cannot take people put of the temporary housing that I have them in,” Broussard said.

A Tenet spokesperson told Eyewitness News that it wants to keep Meadowcrest and it is not for sale to West Jefferson Medical Center. And if Meadowcrest is not relinquished by the parish by Saturday, federal regulation requires Meadowcrest to send out notices to it's 700 employees Friday that they might be laid off, though they may be hired by another Tenet hospital in the U.S.

Sources say Broussard is aware that keeping Meadowcrest past Saturday could mean the loss of these jobs.

“I am meeting with the top Tenet officials on Monday and I hope that there will be a resolve out of that meeting that will begin to develop a plan that these employees can depend on,” Broussard said.

Broussard said he is trying to save the jobs of parish employees and doctors, but said some have already been hired by Texas hospitals.

But by Monday, these nurses could already have their layoff warning notices in their mailboxes.