Photo by Niamh Coomey A former EORH employee looks at job opportunities with other healthcare companies at a Rapid Response Meeting held by Belmont County Department of Job and Family Services in Martins Ferry on Thursday.

MARTINS FERRY — East Ohio Regional Hospital’s closure on March 20 left hundreds of employees without jobs and paychecks, causing financial difficulties for many.

One such employee is 61-year-old Dave Blazak, who was a medic for critical care patients with EORH since it reopened in 2021. Blazak had previously retired from, or “aged out of,” his 27-year career as a medic and firefighter.

Blazak’s job at EORH was supposed to be a way to continue doing what he loved. Now that he has been laid off, he said he is struggling to find another position due to his age.

Blazak said he is owed over $4,000 in pay from the hospital and does not know what his next steps will be besides filing for unemployment. He said he is going to miss being able to help people through his job.

“That and, you know, being able to eat,” Blazak said.

Blazak is far from the only former employee facing food insecurity and difficulty paying his bills.

Leading up to the hospital’s abrupt closure, employees lost health insurance coverage and went over a month without pay. Though some have begun receiving their first skipped paycheck from early March, others have not. Several organizations across the Upper Ohio Valley have stepped up to help.

Blazak was one of around 15 people attending a Belmont County-hosted “Rapid Response Meeting” for former hospital employees Thursday. The Department of Job and Family Services staff provided information and answered questions on how to apply for unemployment benefits.

Local healthcare companies also set up booths to advertise open jobs and speak with former EORH employees about the benefits and opportunities they are offering.

The United Way of the Upper Ohio Valley is another organization that immediately jumped into action to provide resources for the displaced hospital workers.

Community Resource Specialist Melynda Sampson described the closure as “heart wrenching.”

“The (EORH employees) that come in, they worked weeks without getting paid and they just didn’t want their patients and the people in their community to go without that service of a hospital,” Sampson said. “So now they’re suffering from it because they have bills to pay and they were expecting to be getting paid.”

Sampson said the United Way has helped around 60 former EORH employees cover the cost of car payments, mortgages, food and other needs.

The River Valley Health Foundation offered a $50,000 grant through the Community Foundation for the Ohio Valley to go toward supporting former EORH employees. An individual donor who wishes to remain anonymous contributed significantly to the fund in honor of a former doctor of the hospital, Sampson said.

“So even the community has stepped up a little bit and tried to help all these folks,” she said.

However, that money ran out fast because the need is so high, Sampson said. There are still over 30 former employees on a wait list to receive aid.

This is why other services, such as food pantries, have also served an important role in providing for the families of former EORH employees during this time.

When United Way staff initially started hearing about EORH’s financial missteps and facility closures, they began calling around and pulling together a list of pantries willing to help employees who show their EORH badge.

“We’ve always tried to step up and create an action item when things go wrong that you could not ever expect,” Sampson said.

In addition to their regular food pantry services, which are open to anyone, the Salvation Army of Bellaire has assisted around 15 families of former employees by helping out with additional costs like utilities.

Maj. Louis Patrick noted that many people in general live paycheck to paycheck, meaning a month without pay can very quickly turn into an eviction, utility shutoff or ongoing food insecurity.

“You have to realize, many people are one paycheck away from being homeless or being in severe (debt). Many people are living in debt right now,” he said. “Missing two or more paychecks, that’s huge.”

As more employees start to receive their paychecks, some have expressed they won’t need as much support going forward, but Sampson said the United Way will continue to provide help as needed.

“We will absolutely continue to try to support them and find them resources if they need it,” she said. “Hopefully, slowly, they are getting what they earned back to them, but once you get behind it is definitely a struggle to catch up.”

Sampson said some local banks, including Belmont Savings Bank, and local credit unions have been lenient with former EORH employees on things such as overdraft fees from automatic payments that were not able to be completed due to lack of funds.

However, larger utility companies have not been able to offer the same flexibility, and that is one area where the United Way and other organizations have filled the gaps by providing more support.

“There has been a lot of understanding in the local sense, but when it comes to larger companies they don’t have as much leniency and as much wiggle room,” Sampson said.