From the landscape of our beautiful area to the jobs and finances of our people, Hurricane Ike has changed everyone and now it is effecting our health care.

"We have been closed since the storm" says Dr. Ben Raimer, Sr. Vice President for Health Policy with UTMB Galveston. And now UTMB will layoff at least 3,800 employees and this move is directly due to the storm.

Layoffs at UTMB are a concern for Southeast Texas. Not only do we depend on service from the hospital system but layoffs at UTMB could create a surge of medical personnel on the local job market. And, it could affect services for Southeast Texans.

"The UTMB Beaumont Maternal Child in Beaumont will remain open. It is still up in the air as to how this will affect other services in Galveston.
We do have some services such as labor and delivery service which are still operating in Galveston. Other areas such as the Burn center, the future is not known" says Kristen Hensley, Spokesperson for UTMB at Galveston.

This situation leaves Southeast Texans asking the following questions: Will this affect medical care in our area? Could we possibly get some specialists relocating to our area?

Tonight at 6 KBMT will investigate how the staggeringly large layoff at UTMB Galveston will change health care in Southeast Texas.