New Hampshire state officials say they're dismayed by an announcement of big layoffs at a major hospital two days after they awarded it a $36.5 million contract to run the state psychiatric facility.
Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Lebanon, N.H., announced up to 400 coming layoffs on Friday, with a spokesman saying it was too early to say what impact they might have on New Hampshire Hospital in Concord.
The Concord Monitor reports that the Lebanon-based Dartmouth-Hitchcock currently employs roughly two-dozen psychiatrists, advanced nurses and administrators to care for patients with severe mental illness at the Concord facility.
Executive Councilor Chris Sununu of Newfields — a Republican candidate for governor — says he was "floored" by the Dartmouth-Hitchcock announcement. He and other officials said they had no indication it was coming.
