They've vanished from all the surrounding area hospitals here in Tennessee as well. The hospital I was working at as a CNA while I went through LPN school announced that they would create new roles for the LPNs in late 2011. These jobs included: a wound care team, A&D teams, and IV start teams. LPNs began quitting rapidly, and they were not hiring any to replace them. These "new roles" never came about and the LPNs that remained were utilized as Nurse's Aides, and on occasion would do go fix an IV that an RN didn't want to go check. When I left in December of 2012, there were still none of these teams they talked about, and the LPNs were still being aides.
I certainly don't like that the only job opportunities I have in my community is either nursing homes or doctor's offices, but it seems to be the way it's going to be, unfortunately.