Associated Press

A pair of stuffed dice hangs from a monitor on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Stocks plunged for a second straight day Thursday, down to a five-year low.

A lighting manufacturer, hospital chain and logistics company intend to lay off more than 130 employees in Western Virginia's latest reverberations of the economic slowdown.

The largest layoff -- 73 jobs -- is planned at the least known employer, ABX Air Inc., which works for DHL. German-owned DHL is getting out of the U.S. package delivery business in the face of strong competition from UPS and others.

The best known of the downsizing companies, HCA Inc., plans the smallest trim -- 20 people at its various hospitals. Meanwhile, Hubbell Lighting will cut its payroll by 39 in response to curtailed construction activity.

The layoffs at four HCA Southwest Virginia hospitals, which were announced Thursday, are the first of any hospital system in the state, according to a senior vice president of the Virginia Hospital & Healthcare Association.

"We don't have any other concrete examples about layoffs in Virginia hospitals," Chris Bailey said. "I wouldn't be surprised if there are other health systems who follow in HCA's shoes."

A recent national survey of 736 hospitals indicated 53 percent were making or considering staff reductions because of the economy.

ABX Air Inc.

The Ohio company intends to close its Roanoke freight hub and eliminate 73 jobs on or before Jan. 30.

ABX operates the domestic package delivery service of DHL via a network of hubs, including one on Tom Andrews Road near Roanoke Regional Airport. But DHL plans to end U.S. delivery next year and focus on international delivery.

The parent company of ABX said it would eliminate thousands of jobs as DHL winds down operations. Hardest hit will be the main DHL hub in Wilmington, Ohio, according to the parent, Air Transport Services Group Inc.

DHL has a strong international cargo business, while the U.S. market is dominated by UPS, FedEx and the U.S. Postal Service, in that order. DHL occupied fourth place and had been losing money on its U.S. business, Cox News Service reported.

Airport officials regret the loss of ABX but expect the cargo to shift to the UPS and FedEx operations at the airport, spokeswoman Sherry Wallace said.

Hubbell Lighting Inc.

Employees at the Christiansburg plant were informed last week of 39 pending layoffs, which come as the industrial lighting company braces for a continued slowdown in construction projects because of the credit crunch, said Steve Nail, vice president of human resources for Hubbell Lighting.

"What we're actually seeing is construction projects just being put on hold," Nail said. "Businesses are deciding to not go forward with upgrades. That's really what's causing this."

The Christiansburg plant currently employs about 350 people, and the layoffs will bring that number to about 310.

Initially the company had announced to employees it would lay off between 25 and 50 hourly employees. Last week, the company also laid off five salaried employees.

Union leaders for Local 82160 of the International Union of Electronic / Communications Workers of America, who represent about 150 workers, said the layoffs will nearly eliminate the second shift and that they are unhappy with the way the changes are being handled. Nail said the second shift will continue but will be smaller than the first shift.

Penny Franklin, president-elect of the local, said if the union's concerns are not addressed, it will be filing grievances over the matter.

Average pay is a little more than $15 an hour, Franklin said.

Hubbell Lighting, headquartered in Greenville, S.C., is part of Hubbell Inc., an international manufacturer of electrical and electronic products based in Orange, Conn.

HCA Southwest Virginia

The positions eliminated within the regional HCA hospital system were all salaried middle management positions, said Victor Giovanetti, president of HCA Southwest Virginia.

"This will not impact the full-time patient care nursing providers that we have," Giovanetti said. "Not only are we committed to try and avoid that, but we will continue to be committed to aggressively recruit to meet our bedside nursing needs."

That said, the company has also initiated a hiring freeze for all positions not related to patient care and made efforts to trim its expenses on travel and discretionary spending unrelated to patient care.

HCA eliminated 28 total positions. The decision caused 20 layoffs. The other positions had been open but unfilled.

Layoffs affected seven people at Lewis-Gale Medical Center in Salem, seven at Pulaski Community Hospital, two at Montgomery Regional Hospital in Blacksburg and four at Alleghany Regional Hospital in Low Moor. Additionally, six open positions were eliminated at Lewis-Gale, and two were eliminated at Montgomery. HCA Southwest Virginia employs about 2,780 people, more than half of whom work at Lewis-Gale.

A week ago, Nashville, Tenn.-based HCA reported its third-quarter net income fell 71 percent to $86 million. For the quarter, which ended Sept. 30, HCA reported revenues of $7 billion, up 6.6 percent over last year. While hospital admissions were essentially the same as a year ago, HCA said "favorable pricing trends" helped revenues.

Giovanetti said the company financial results did not affect the decision to cut positions.

"This was an opportunity to focus on making adjustments necessary for us to deal with some of the challenges that businesses and homes are dealing with in terms of the economic crisis," Giovanetti said.

Instead, he said, the decision was based on the local market and specifically a 50 percent increase in bad debt since last year.

That's caused by patients who can't afford co-pays and deductibles, as well as the uninsured, Giovanetti said.

"This is a good lesson in health care economics," he said. "This is the natural resolution of a recession, it's what happens in a recession in health care. The difference between us and [other industries] ... is health care is something people have to have. People come to the hospital even if they can't afford it, and they should."

While nationally many hospitals have seen a decline in patient volume from people deciding to forgo care, Giovanetti said Lewis-Gale and the other hospitals in the region have seen volumes grow.

Giovanetti said he did not anticipate any further cuts before the end of the year.

"We certainly hope not," he said. "But I don't think anyone knows what's going to happen with the economy."

sarah.jones@roanoke.com 981-3264