A different struggle for survival is happening at the University's Hershey Medical Center as employees fight to keep their jobs while the center slices $22 million from its budget.

The layoffs follow a hiring freeze and other expense reductions intended to increase the center's efficiency and keep its costs competitive. The number of people who will be laid off has not yet been determined.

"It's what we would consider to be a modest number," said Steve Bortner, manager of public information at the center. "If you're one of those employees, that's probably not much of a comfort."

Employees will be notified later this month if they will lose their jobs and actual layoffs will begin in May. Most at risk are workers who have been at the center less than a year.

But even some employees who have been there longer are concerned. Bonnie Teets has worked in laundry services at the center for about five years but said she has felt "the uncertainty of going to work -- not knowing whether you'll have a job or not."

Salaries, wages and fringe benefits comprise more than 62 percent of the center's annual budget, said Roger Burns, the center's chief financial officer.

Burns did not know how much money the layoffs would save the center.

"At this point we have not subdivided that into special categories," he said.

But the center will probably be able to limit the number of layoffs because of other cost-saving methods, Bortner said.

Since July 1993, there are 85 fewer employees because of eliminating open positions and some early retirements. Open positions are aggressively reviewed and then reassigned or eliminated.

Some people have also moved from full-time work to part time with health benefits, Bortner said.

As of Feb. 25, the center had saved $14,423,456. Savings of more than $8 million has resulted from employee cost cuts, such as in salaries, benefits and different supplies. Growth and cost reduction will save the center $6 million.

The center has also put together programs for employees who lose their jobs, but rumors about the extent of the cuts still abound, adding to the tension, Teets said.

"I've been there for a while," she said. "I'm hoping I don't lose my job."