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ALBANY, GA -- Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital has issued a statement saying a total of 22 employees at Palmyra Medical Center will not be eligible for employment when Phoebe completes its takeover of Palmyra.

The statement was issued on Friday and gives no specific information about what criteria was used to determine that the 22 Palmyra workers will not be employed by Phoebe Putney.  FOX 31 News will continue to update this story as new information becomes available.

Statement on transition of employees

Issued by Jackie Ryan, AVP, Phoebe

January 21, 2011

The Asset Purchase Agreement (APA) calls for employment of the Palmyra personnel to end at closing. It also contemplates that those same employees will become Phoebe employees at closing. Under the agreement, Phoebe was required to submit employees who did not meet eligibility by a given date [today]. Out of the workforce at Palmyra, consisting of 466 employees, 22 employees did not qualify as reviewed against the agreed upon standards. These are never easy decisions, but it is important for the vast majority of the work force to know they will have a job through the transition and after the closing.

As promised, each employee who did not meet the criteria,  was reviewed individually to assure that each was thoroughly assessed before making these determinations as directed in the APA.

 We are pleased to know that HCA has offered severance packages or other opportunities in their organization.