National Nurses United

NewsBriefs_Sept 10/5/10 7:02 PM Page 5 Washington, D.C. Nurses Chalk Up a Big Win Sinking Rick Scott in Florida Governor's Race It would be hard to find another race where the issues are as clear for nurses than the race for Florida's governor in 2010. The Republican candidate Rick Scott has campaigned using a personal fortune he amassed while working as a healthcare executive over the past few decades. His career background alone pretty much disqualifies him from being able to protect nurses' rights and nurses' ability to advocate for patients. But Scott holds another more dubious distinction nurses need to know. Scott was at the helm of the Columbia-HCA hospital corporation at the time the federal government investigated the company and found it had perpetrated the largest fraud ever against the Medicare program. In 2001, the company reached a plea agreement to pay $95 million in fines to the federal government to avoid criminal charges against the company. In late 2002, the company agreed to pay the government $631 million, plus interest, and paid another $17.5 million to state Medicaid agencies, in addition to $250 million paid So, there's a great crop of strong candidates out there. On ballots and in voting booths, nurses can make a huge difference in this election cycle and well beyond. And take a few moments to share your opinions SEPTEMBER 2010 up to that point to resolve outstanding Medicare expense claims. In all, civil lawsuits and government fines cost the company more than $1.7 billion to settle. Despite this mess orchestrated under Scott's watch, he walked away with a golden parachute. That's an epic award and an epic injustice. Scott is not the person to lead Florida. Alex Sink is his opponent, and nurses in Florida would do well to educate one another and their communities about Scott. Florida RNs should make sure he is not elected the next governor of their great state. A vote for Sink is a vote for justice not only for those in Florida, but for all of us who shouldered the financial costs of Scott's rise to corporate power at the helm of the largest hospital chain in the world. While we'd prefer to vote for a candidate whom we find compatible with nurses' values, sometimes it's just as important for nurses to cast votes against candidates like Scott who represent such a clear and present threat to those values. —D.S. with friends, family, neighbors, and coworkers. Nurses are trusted for good reason and most voters will appreciate that voting for what nurses value is a good idea for us all. —Donna Smith W W W. N A T I O N A L N U R S E S U N I T E D . O R G Three cheers and then some for our District of Columbia nurses who endorsed Vincent Gray in the recent mayoral race over incumbent Adrian Fenty, whom many in DC believed had lost touch with common citizens and the issues facing them. Gray won over Fenty in the September primary, which determines the outcome of the Nov. 2 general election due to the heavy Democratic Party affiliation of DC's voters. For Gray, winning the September primary essentially meant winning the mayor's race. District of Columbia Nurses Association RNs endorsed Gray early in the campaign because they knew the issues at stake for nurses and patients in DC and believed Gray the best person for the mayor's slot. Fenty had become the candidate who represented the gentrification of the city, and the voting results showed it. The city's political divide tracked its demographic divide. The voting split was stark, with Wards 2 and 3 (the city's most affluent wards) voting about 80 percent for Fenty, while Wards 7 and 8 (the city's poorest and predominantly African American neighborhoods) gave him less than 20 percent. Besides their endorsement, DC nurses invested time and energy campaigning for Gray by door knocking, phone banking, and volunteering. As trusted members of their communities, they were influential in helping Gray garner the broad populist support that he needed to win. "He came to meet and talk with DCNA nurses," said Bridgett Cameron, an RN who volunteered at Gray's campaign office preparing folders and other campaign literature. "His belief in nursing and his concern about safe ratios and patient care made me want to vote for him." —D.S. N AT I O N A L N U R S E 5

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