Surgical instruments maker Surgical Specialties is planning to permanently shutter a plant in its hometown of Reading, Pa., this spring, meaning layoffs for roughly 254 workers.
The Vancouver-based company told Pennsylvania’s Bureau of Workforce Partnership & Operations in a Feb. 26 letter that the 3-to-6-month shutdown is slated to begin May 1 with layoffs for 69 temporary and full-time workers.
Another 185 workers are expected to lose their jobs by Dec. 1, 2015, according to the letter. Surgical Specialties is shifting the operation to Mexico, human resources vice president Mark Sherman told WFMZ 69 News.
Surgical Specialties is a subsidiary of Angiotech, which co-developed the Taxus stent with Boston Scientific (NYSE:BSX). The company makes instruments under its eponymous brand as well as the Look, Quill and Sharpoint names.
The company is also an OEM maker of surgical instruments "for virtually every medical device company in the U.S. and throughout the world," according to its website. It was founded in Reading in 1971.
