Springfield’s largest employer looking more for workers

Mercy Health — Springfield’s largest employer — ranked fifth among employer job postings in western Ohio in December, according to a recently released report.

»RELATED: Mercy Health merger: Facts and figures about the company

The health network boasted 120 openings for positions in the state according to a statistics report released by OhioMeansJobs, the state’s government-funded job-seeker website. Other companies in the top five included Lowe’s with 207 openings and Kettering Medical Center topping the list with 962.

The jobs report stated a total of 15,353 listings being posted to the site between Dec. 14, 2017 to Jan. 13 of this year. This marks a 3.5 percent decrease in listings over the previous period and a 9.8 percent decrease from 2017’s high point of 16,987, which was posted in November.

The report covered a number of counties from western Ohio, including Auglaize, Champaign, Clark, Clinton, Darke, Fayette, Greene, Mercer, Miami, Montgomery, Preble and Shelby. The most in-demand jobs in the region include truck drivers, registered nurses and retail salespeople.

» MORE COVERAGE: Mercy merger won’t affect Springfield, Urbana hospitals, officials say

The report comes on the heels of Mercy Health announcing more employees for the area, including RNs, licensed practical nurses and state-trained nursing assistants.

The network will host an open job fair from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday, March 8, at Mercy Health-Urbana Hospital, 904 Scioto St. The hospital system has 60 positions for registered nurses, state trained nursing aids and licensed practical nurses available, as well as jobs for medical assistants, respiratory therapists, and dietary and environmental services staff.

That’s on top of the 150 jobs Mercy Health looked to fill at a job fair in Springfield earlier this month.

The job fair comes in the wake of a merger announcement between Mercy Health and Bon Secours, an East Coast-based health network. The proposed merger is expected to be finalized by the end of the year.

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