Dear All: I am submitting this listserv proposal for your consideration. I am interested in starting a listserv for displaced rehabilitation services employees - physical, occupational, and speech therapists and the staff that supports them. Generally, these rehab services personnel are highly educated, computer literate, and well-paid. To my knowledge, no other listserv exists for this subject. Due to drastic changes in Medicare funding, many rehab services employees are finding themselves out of jobs. For some, this is coming as a complete surprise, as we felt we were in recession-proof careers. Recently, US News listed Speech Pathology and Physical Therapy as "hot careers" - but neglected to mention that many employers (Vencor, for example) were laying off their therapists wholesale (2000 therapists nationwide in one day, in Vencor's case). Last week, I was "downsized" from my department as well. I was fully expecting this to happen, as I've kept abreast of the Medicare changes, so I suppose I'm more fortunate than others. But for each one of us who was prepared for these changes, there is at least one other person who was caught off guard. I'll be contacting our Employment Security Commission tomorrow to see about starting unemployment benefits. I feel the benefits of a "displaced rehab services employees" listserv are as follows: resources and support to help us help each other with the ins and outs of unemployment, the potential for career changes, financial assistance for these career changes, and job leads. I hope you'll consider hosting such a listserv. Please email me directly at mailto:[log in to unmask] if you have any additional questions. Sincerely, Laurie Gray Speech Pathologist