After nearly one week, workers at Insight Hospital & Medical Center Trumbull and Hillside Rehabilitation Hospital are finally starting to get paid.

Trumbull County Commissioner Denny Malloy tells 21 News Insight employees have been paid as of Thursday, April 3.

Tom Connolly, AFSCME president representing Trumbull nurses, said some are still waiting for part of their paychecks. He also is asking for better communication from Insight.

"They haven't spoken to us but yesterday, when they told me they were finally going to reimburse them partial pay, and there's a lot of errors in that too. Suffice it to say though, we want the hospital to reopen, and we want our jobs back, but we're not going to be treated like this," said Connolly.

21 News spoke to one nurse who says she is still waiting for over a weeks worth of pay. Registered nurse Brenda Byler said it's about the employees and the patients.

"As I was walking in to get my belongings, I heard sirens in the background. You know, there's only one hospital for them to go to now," said Byler. "Walking through those empty halls right now is just devastating."

Warren Mayor Doug Franklin says employees pleas for backpay have been "somewhat answered," but city officials will continue to fight to get all of those employees their full backpay.

This comes after nearly one week of employees not being paid due to "unforeseen circumstances" following developments in Steward Health's bankruptcy.

The pay issue followed hundreds of employee layoffs and was followed by all upper management positions at Insight's hospitals being fired without warning or reason and health insurance benefits being terminated for all laid off staff.

A class action lawsuit was filed Wednesday, April 2 by an employee at Hillside demanding the missing payments and claiming that Insight violated the WARN Act, which requires laid off employees to be notified 60 days in advance.

Mayor Franklin said in a Thursday afternoon press conference the St. Vincent de Paul Society will be offering food, rent and utility assistance for employees who have lost wages due to the layoffs.

The mayor says Insight does have a plan for the hospital, but they can't execute that plan without funds from Steward, who Franklin is accusing of Medicare Fraud.

Mayor Franklin went on to call for a criminal investigation into Steward Health.

"I'm calling on our federal delegations, senator Husted, senator Moreno and Congressman Joyce, and all of those federal authorities, to investigate criminally, where the medicaid and medicare dollars went.

"Our citizens, our community deserve and are entitled to this money. This scheme must stop. ... These are public dollars and they can't sit on them. It's not theirs, it's not right. Millions of dollars are at stake and our community's health care is at stake," Franklin said.

21 News waited outside of Insight Hospital and Medical Center to try and speak with Insight, but was told to leave the property.

You can read much more about the Insight pay issues, the lawsuit and the mass layoffs in our related coverage below.

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