National Nurses United

NewsBriefs:Dec 2 12/18/08 10:54 PM Page 5 Sutter RNs Work Community Strategy with CPMC, St. Luke's CALIFORNIA onths after every other Sutter Health facility in Northern California has settled contracts with their registered nurses, Sutter's California Pacific Medical Center continues to not only refuse to bargain with RNs at its California and St. Luke's campuses, but also to flout legal decisions governing nurses' healthcare benefits and to condition the rebuilding of St. Luke's Hospital, which predominantly serves surrounding low-income and Latino communities, upon city approval for a massive new hospital complex in a ritzier part of town called Cathedral Hill. "CPMC is not trustworthy or forthcoming with their so-called promises," said Jane Sandoval, an emergency room RN at St. Luke's. "We're here to flip it on them and say, No, you won't have Cathedral Hill unless you rebuild St. Luke's and there's labor peace." RNs have been fighting Sutter and CPMC on multiple fronts and have adopted a strategy of working closely with community and church leaders as well as members of the Board of Supervisors to politically pressure the hospital corporation. In the November elections for the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, CNA/NNOC RNs endorsed and actively campaigned for several winning candidates who form the progressive pro-RN, propatient, and pro-union majority on the board. RNs also campaigned with help from the community and city officials to keep St. Luke's Hospital open after Sutter announced plans to shut down the facility. Sutter this year accept- M DECEMBER 2008 ed the recommendation by a city-convened Blue Ribbon Panel, in which CNA/NNOC RNs participated, that St. Luke's be rebuilt, but is now maneuvering to construct a much smaller hospital and make the rebuild contingent on getting to build on Cathedral Hill. Now currently licensed for 230 beds, Sutter said it hoped to rebuild St. Luke's at only 5060 beds by no longer providing services the hospital has historically provided, such as inpatient psychiatry and subacute care. "We don't want a scaled-down version that won't be successful," said Sandoval. "What is that? Like a Legoland hospital?" Also, despite two arbitrator decisions ruling that CPMC needed to immediately restore healthcare benefits for RNs to former levels after it unilaterally increased fees and copays, the hospital has not done so and even continues to offer the unlawful plan as part of its open enrollment period. —staff report WE'RE NUMBER ONE, AGAIN or the seventh year in a row, the Gallup Poll ranked registered nurses as the most trusted profession by the public, scoring as either "high" or "very high" in their honesty and ethical standards. CNA/NNOC RN leadership said that the survey's findings reflect the public's confidence in registered nurses as professionals who will always advocate in the best interests of patients. "We view our relationship with patients and communities as a sacred trust, and an obligation to advocate relentlessly for patient safety and public health at the bedside, and in the public arena," said CNA/NNOC Copresident Geri Jenkins, RN. Nurses have ranked first in the Gallup Poll every year since 1999 when they were added to the survey, with the sole exception of 2001 when firefighters had the top rating in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks. Gallup's findings are not an aberration. A California Field Poll last April accorded CNA/NNOC and registered nurses the highest rating among all groups involved in public policy discussions on healthcare reform in California. CNA/NNOC RNs in particular are dedicated to not only individual and collective patient advocacy, but also social advocacy by working to pass a guaranteed, single-payer healthcare system in the United States— like an improved and expanded Medicare system for all. —staff report F REGISTERED NURSE 5

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