National Nurses United

MICHIGAN A s patient care advocates, it seems registered nurses are constantly battling corporate greed and dark money in politics. Michigan Nurses Association members helped score a huge victory against both in December. Nurses were among the first and loud- est voices to oppose an attempt by McLaren Health Care, a rapidly growing healthcare system, to build an unnecessary hospital. McLaren needed permission from the state's Certificate of Need Commission, which exists to protect consumers from excess healthcare facilities that can drive up costs. McLaren wanted to transfer 200 beds from its hospital in Pontiac, Mich., an economically struggling community, to a new hospital in a nearby suburb. "This would create a deeper divide among the haves and the have-nots," said MNA Executive Director John Karebian. "On one hand you have the patients who can afford to go to the fancy new hospital with all the bells and whistles, and then there are the residents of the Pontiac area who are stuck with a dying, substandard facility." The commission rejected McLaren's request twice, noting that the affluent area in which it wanted to build was already saturated with hospital beds. McLaren is well known to MNA as an employer that doesn't believe the rules apply to it. So it was no surprise when McLaren refused to take "no" for an answer. McLaren sued the state, but a judge upheld the CON Commission's rejection. The corporation's only remaining option: get special permission from the Legislature. For months, McLaren pressured lawmakers to grant this special carve-out. McLaren spread lots of money around the Republican-controlled Legislature. In fact, an investigation revealed that it contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars this year to a secret fund that helped Republicans win seats in the November election. In coalition with other organizations, MNA did a full-court press to stop this legislative end run. When the bill to allow the new hospital came up for a vote in the state Senate, it failed big time: 11 to 26. Although McLaren was defeated this time, it isn't likely to give up. In fact, there is talk that the Legislature will work next session to dismantle the entire Certificate of Need process. For now, though, nurses can take pride in having stopped a greedy corporation from buying its way into a move that would have hurt patient care and contributed to the growing economic inequality pervading our country. —Dawn Kettinger Finally, in addition to the lack of staffing and unsafe working conditions, nurses are protesting an increasingly punitive manage- ment culture at the hospital where nurses report widespread bullying of staff to work extra shifts or longer hours, unwarranted discipline of nurses, and intense pressure to speed up care regardless of its impact on the nurses' well-being and the well-being of the patients. A sign has been placed in the OR identifying and shaming nurses who failed to move a patient in and out of a unit fast enough. "Our hospital is not a factory, we are not workers on an assembly line that is moving faster and faster," said Jakacky. "We are not making widgets, we are caring for vulnera- ble human beings whose very life depends on my having the time and attention to provide the care they need when they need it. It is time for our management to treat us with respect and to provide the resources nurses need to ensure the safety of our patients." The degradation of patient care at BMC is coming at a time when the residents of Northern Berkshire County continue to have no access to inpatient care in their commu- nity, while the hospital continues to make a healthy profit, posting profits of more than $90 million over the last three years. According to Donna Kelly-Williams, RN and president of MNA/NNU, who recently attended a standing-room-only meeting of the BMC nurses where the decision to conduct the protest was made, "Not only do the residents of Northern Berkshire County no longer have a hospital, they, and all the patients of this region, are now coping with the impact of the closure in North Adams and Berkshire Medical Center's lack of a plan to handle the dramatic increase in patient volume. It's not right." The nurses point out that this job action is not related to an ongoing contract negoti- ation (the BMC nurses have a contract in place until Oct. 1, 2016) and this protest has nothing to do with the nurses' wages or benefits. "This is about the safety and well- being of our patients in Berkshire County and about advocating for patients in every way. It is also about the stewardship of healthcare in all of Berkshire County," said Judith Sharp, a bariatric nurse and a member of the nurses' negotiating team. —David Schildmeier Michigan RNs thwart hospital's medical redlining D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 4 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 N A T I O N A L N U R S E 5

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