Billy Joel sang “we're living here in Allentown,” but fewer Allentown residents may be living anywhere if an Eastern Pennsylvania hospital can’t keep its doors open.
Sacred Heart Hospital in Allentown let go 76 employees, or five percent of its work force, in a bid to cut operating losses.
39 open positions have been eliminated, and dozens of employees are having their work hours reduced.
Spokesperson Valerie Downing says the layoffs will save the hospital about $5.7 million a year. Sacred Heart had $6.3 million in operating losses in its last fiscal year, the fifth consecutive year of operating losses.
Allentown, Pennsylvania has seen many of its major industrial businesses disappear over the last 20 years. The city contains the corporate headquarters for several global companies, such as Mack Trucks.
