GALVESTON, Texas -- The ax fell Thursday for 1,250 employees at Galveston's UTMB. Most of those who got pink slips were doctors and nurses.

"I was hoping I wasn't one of those people, but weren't we all?" said Terri O'Brien, an operating room nurse whose job was cut.

So many people were let go Thursday, that it was tough to break the news individually.

"They told us in a group meeting," O'Brien said.

At the employee help center, the mood was gloomy as laid off workers brushed up their resumes.

"You realize I'm not going to be seeing any more and it feels almost like a death," said Fran Devine.

Even Mary Sweeney, the coordinator of the job center, was laid off. But she stuck around Thursday to help others find work.

"I think this will devastate the island, you know," said Sweeney. "We have a lot of little restaurants here where people feed us lunch. We have stores we buy merchandise from."

The notifications, which will continue until Monday, end weeks of agonizing limbo for employees at the medical branch, which incurred about $710 million in expenses from Hurricane Ike, a Category 2 storm that struck Sept. 13, flooding campus buildings and severely damaging John Sealy Hospital.

Critical first floor operations like the blood bank were destroyed.

We asked why the resources weren't moved to a higher floor before the hurricane came ashore. The choice was made to continue serving the uninsured instead.

"The hospital could make that choice, but they decided to spend $120 million on indigent care instead of spending that money to put things on a high floor," said UTMB Chief Operating Officer David Marshall. "I think it was the right choice."

Insurance only covered a fraction of the cost of repairs and UTMB is bleeding money -- losing millions of dollars each month.

The institution, which includes research centers, John Sealy Hospital, clinics and the state’s oldest medical school, employs about 12,500 people, 8,000 on the island campus.

Nearly 3,000 jobs will be cut.