Commission to hold hearing on layoffs at Jackson Health System

Miami-Dade County Commission Chairman Joe Martinez agreed Tuesday to a union request to hold a public hearing to discuss what he called "devastating layoffs" planned at Jackson Health System. The news brought cheers to a crowd of about 200 Jackson union members gathered outside County Hall to protest Jackson’s proposal to eliminate 1,117 jobs by firing 922 people and abolishing 195 empty positions. Jackson, a struggling public hospital system that has lost $420 million the past three years, plans to hire 355 part-time employees to meet the hospitals' flexible staffing needs as patient populations increase and decrease.