JAMESTOWN, Tenn. — As the Jamestown Regional Medical Center remains closed in Fentress County, the state of Tennessee is getting involved to help displaced workers.
The response comes after state Rep. John Mark Windle requested an audit from the state Department of Labor into Rennova Jamestown after employees said they cannot collect unemployment because the company wasn’t sending unemployment insurance payments to the state.
The TN Department of Labor and Workforce Development is sending a rapid response team to the county on Friday to offer support to workers affected by the hospital's closure.
The event will take place on Friday, June 21 at the Fentress County Courthouse at 101 North Main Street from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Members from the Upper Cumberland American Job Center will be there to work with displaced workers to update their resumes, discuss free job training opportunities, and help them along with the job search process.
Staff from the Dept. of Labor's security division will also be there to help workers file for unemployment benefits. Workers should bring their 2018 W-2, their last pay stub for 2019 showing year-to-date earnings, and two forms of ID.
The Rennova-owned hospital has been plagued with financial troubles and supply shortages, and said it had to 'temporarily' close starting on June 13.
The closure came one day after the hospital was denied any more Medicare and Medicaid payments for new patients.
Employees in Oneida's Big South Fork Medical Center, another Rennova-owned hospital, said they had also experienced a lapse in getting paid recently.
The hospital later announced they had paid employees after days of delays, and one employee said they received an email saying it was "due to issues with receipt and transfer of funds to our local bank account."