Galveston, for all its tree-lined boulevards, seafood enthusiasts and rich history, is not really a city in which tourism abounds and metropolitan businesses flourish. Instead, the life of the city greatly depends on the jobs and revenue provided by University’s Medical Branch. That being said, the current epidemic of UTMB layoffs has generated much anxiety and concern among many island dwellers.
Six hundred UTMB employees were laid off Wednesday morning in an effort by the medical branch to combat mounting debt. UTMB’s financial problems are primarily the result of the tremendous damage caused by Hurricane Ike, and within the week as many as 3,800 people will be left jobless and wondering where to turn for work. The UT System’s regents say the layoffs are necessary to compensate for the $710 million in damage caused by the storm. But for many employees, the layoffs are just the latest in a string of financial blows. Ike will go down as the most expensive hurricane in Texas history, causing up to $11.4 billion in damage. Local residents have seen their families separated, their homes destroyed, their cars damaged and more.
Like many devastating occurrences, once news coverage declines, we tend to quickly forget both the tragedy and the human lives affected by it. Amid the pre- and post-election fervor, economic downturn and, of course, upcoming finals and holidays, we cannot forget that though many of us were left unscathed by the September storm, countless others are still suffering. Though this kind of short-term memory can be convenient in some cases — forget the bad grade you made on a test or some of the less-than-intelligent choices made last weekend — it often leads to attitudes of indifference and apathy toward the less fortunate.
The cutbacks are a severe blow to the city, the residents of Galveston and the surrounding Houston area. UTMB has served as the city’s largest employer, not to mention an irreplaceable staple of its economy. The medical school has a long-standing reputation for excellence in the fields of cancer care, cardiology, burn recovery and women’s and children’s care. Though the medical school is currently in dire financial straits, it is of the utmost importance that UT officials do all they can to ensure the renewal of the hospital’s former status and the revival of Galveston’s weakened economy.
