WACO, Texas (KWTX/Gray News) – A longtime healthcare worker in Texas says she was suddenly let go from her position after spending nearly three decades with the company.
Waco Family Medicine announced last week that it had to immediately cut 7% of its staff while closing several of its smaller clinics, stating financial reasons.
For years, the Waco healthcare provider has offered affordable care to patients across Central Texas, and the sudden changes affect both patients and staff.
Linda Garcia worked with Waco Family Medicine since 1997, but last Friday, she happened to be one of the 52 employees laid off.
“The supervisor came to me. They started explaining to me what was happening with the financial situation that we’re going through,” Garcia said. “She told me, ‘Unfortunately, you’re one of the people we’re going to have to let go.‘”
She says she was thanked for 28 years of dedicated service, presented with a severance packet, and then asked her to turn in her badge and keys.
“I just broke down. I wasn’t expecting it at all,” Garcia said. “When I got back to my desk, I was already off the system.”
According to Waco Family Medicine, it is making necessary adjustments to its operations in response to significant financial pressures amid restrictive Medicaid policies and rising healthcare costs.
The healthcare provider closed three of its medical clinics and two of its dental clinics, notifying patients with text messages.
“It’s certainly very disheartening when an organization such as Waco Family Medicine closes its doors to communities that they served for many decades,” Dr. Nadege Gunn, the president of McLennan County Medical Society, said.
Gunn further explained that this is something many clinics are struggling with right now.
“It definitely is a universal issue, not one that just impacts our community, but unfortunately it has impacted our community,” she said.
Garcia said she will still be paid through May, but she’s just hurt by how it all happened.
“It just happened so quickly. I mean, that was like my life, you know. They were like my second family,” she said.
Waco Family Medicine CEO Dr. Jackson Griggs was speaking with U.S. and state representatives this week, advocating for Medicaid and community health center funding.
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