CASPER, Wyo. (AP) — As the declining energy sector takes its toll on other businesses, Casper's Mountain View Regional Hospital has laid off 15 employees.

The hospital co-CEO Dr. Tom Kopitnik says this is the largest reduction in staff the hospital has seen since opening in July 2008 and represents a loss of almost 5 percent of the workforce.

In addition to the recent layoffs, some positions at the hospital have not been filled as people leave. Kopitnik did not have an exact figure for the number of positions left vacant because of attrition.

Kopitnik says the number of surgeries has dropped recently, affecting the hospital's bottom line. He says patients are delaying surgeries because they don't want to pay insurance deductibles or risk their jobs by having to miss work.

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