WTOC, Savannah, Georgia, news, weather and sports | Memorial Hospital Reaches Evacuees with Job Openings
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It's not easy for many Hurricane Katrina victims to get back on their feet when it comes to finding employment. But one major employer in Savannah is making it clear it will hire evacuees for temporary and permanent jobs. Memorial Hospital has taken its advertising to a national level to reach out to them.
They said they want to do what they can to help, so they started a special advertising campaign targeting the Gulf Coast. Newspapers in Arkansas, Houston and Birmingham are now getting a taste of Savannah's job opportunities.
"We're offering part-time or temporary employment," said Bob Colvin, the hospital's CEO. "Three months, six months, 12 months--or even permanent--to folks who have been displaced from the New Orleans area."
Memorial is running ads targeted at Katrina victims, mainly in the healthcare business, whose hospitals have been destroyed. "Many of those hospitals have been so severely damaged, they're not certain where or if they are going to reopen," said Colvin.
So you may be asking, are these jobs still open to locals? "The job listings we have out there are available to all the folks locally," said Colvin. "However, we will bring on even additional staff as Katrina evacuees, hiring staff beyond what we would normally have, in anticipation of vacancies in the future."
The Department of Labor in Savannah says it is already getting people coming in from the Gulf Coast looking for employment.
Memorial says its ads started running yesterday. They are expecting responses soon and even offering relocation help.
"Providing them with some assistance in terms of housing, relocation," said Colvin. "We have some deals with local hotels to waive some costs for folks coming in that may want to stay here."
Memorial also has deals with some utility companies that will waive some hook-up fees for the new employees, so it works out for everyone.
Reported by: Kim Angelastro, kangelastro@wtoc.com
