National Nurses United

NewsBriefs:Public 7/9/07 1:21 PM Page 10 NewsBriefs WRAP-UP REPORT Sutter RNs Fight Takeaways early three months into contract negotiations for 10 CNA/NNOC-represented Sutter Health hospitals, the giant hospital corporation has failed to agree on any measure of significance to nurses and has been especially aggressive in pursuing takeaways at several facilities. Sutter has also rejected many of CNA/NNOC's systemwide proposals to enhance retirement benefits, build the union, improve staffing, and protect nurses from the damaging "Kentucky River" decision that opens the door to stripping nurses of their union rights by designating them supervisors. Massive healthcare takeaways appear to be the common theme. At California Pacific Medical Center and St. Luke's Hospital, both in San Francisco, Sutter has pushed for healthcare takeaways. The company has also proposed cutting retiree health benefits at St. Luke's. At Alta Bates Summit Medical Center across the Bay in Oakland and Berkeley, Sutter also wants healthcare and retiree healthcare takeaways. It has proposed reducing and restricting healthcare plans and provider options, and to replace current retiree health insurance with a limited retiree health account. Similar concessions are being demanded from RNs at Sutter Delta and Solano. Negotiators note that Sutter's positions come at a time when the company reported $587 million in net income for 2006, a 33 percent increase. "We have a historic opportunity in the united bargaining power of 5,000 Sutter nurses," said Jan Rodolfo, RN member of the Sutter bargaining team. "It's time for Sutter to invest some of those profits into patients and nurses." —staff report N 10 REGISTERED NURSE Illinois four months after passing a budget that slashed health services in the Chicago area, Cook County Bureau of Health Services RNs continue to wage their battle to preserve one of the nation's largest, premier public healthcare systems. Seven months after the county board president announced 17 percent across-the-board cuts for the bureau, massive public protests, intensive political work, community outreach, and concerted bargaining and legal efforts have, to date, managed to stave off any RN layoffs. While this unprecedented fight-back has galvanized nurses, the community, and political leaders, Cook County has sunk ever deeper into political scandals, mismanagement, and severe cuts to healthcare services that are harming patients, creating a climate of fear and resignation among caregivers that has seen the departure of many of the county's dedicated doctors. By mid-April, the county had closed or cut medical staff at 20 community clinics—clinics which account for almost 500,000 patient visits, totaling nearly two-thirds of all clinic visits to the bureau in 2006. The RN-led bargaining team has been demanding that the county transfer all RN positions eliminated in these cuts to the remaining open clinics. While clinic closures had been part of the budget debate, Board President Todd Stroger and his interim bureau chief have tried to force through additional unapproved cuts. These cuts include the eviction of some 220 long-term patients at the county's Oak Forest Hospital. Many of these patients have considered Oak Forest their home for decades, and they and their families are being put under intense pressure to move to nursing homes. Among Oak Forest's patients are a group of some 30 undocumented patients, many of whom are severely disabled, who could face forced deportation to their country of origin. As if all this were not enough, the county's brand-new flagship facility, Stroger Hospital, was hit in May with 22 citations by the Joint Commission on W W W. C A L N U R S E S . O R G Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations—"its worst performance in nearly two decades." The violations could lead to the hospital losing its accreditation and jeopardizing its federal Medicare reimbursement—a critical vital source of funding. At a minimum, Stroger Hospital will most likely end up on probation. The healthcare cuts, mismanagement, and ongoing political missteps by county administration have led to a withering media backlash against Stroger and his health bureau chief—Dr. Robert Simon. At the end of June, Crain's Chicago Business newspaper, likely prompted by local hospital executives feeling the impact of county cuts, called for the replacement of Simon—a demand that CNA/NNOC has been advocating for the last six months. While this is, and will continue to be, one of the most difficult challenges facing Cook County nurses, their fight-back has elevated CNA/NNOC's profile as a champion of nurses and patients in Chicago and Illinois. On June 7, the three county commissioners who have led the political fight against the healthcare cuts honored its efforts, which they recognized as averting the worst of the cuts. "While County's budget problems are far from over, the extent and severity of cuts would, without a doubt, have been far worse in the absence of the nurses' strong stand to protect the patients and nurses of Cook County," read a letter signed by Roberto Maldonado, Forrest Claypool, and Larry Suffredin, respective commissioners of the 8th, 12, and 13th districts. "In today's environment of scarce health care budgets, we applaud NNOC's efforts to continue to make sure that the County's resources are spent effectively and efficiently on quality health care for the people of Cook County." —frank borgers JUNE 2007

• Cover