Service Employees International Union (SEIU)

Perhaps due to political pressure from opposition groups, a state agency charged with authorizing tax-exempt bond issues has postponed considering a proposed $958 million bond issue by Sutter Health until next year. The delay was lauded by the Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare West, which often goes head-to-head with Sutter. The group says that it want to push Sutter hard to use the bond proceeds to lower its prices, a legal requirement included in the bond terms. …

> CIGNA plans to buy a regional Tennessee health plan. Article

>  The Service Employees International Union is accusing Universal Health Services' behavioral health division of understaffing and poor case management, allegedly leading to unsafe conditions for patients. …

The National Labor Relations Board has found that Sutter Roseville Medical Center must pay workers back wages interest after locking them out for four days in 2002. The ruling upholds the decision made by an administrative law judge in 2004. The NLRB finding will affect about 450 workers, each of whom should get an average of $444, for a total payout of about $200,000, according to The Sacramento Bee. Workers, including nurses and operating room techs, had staged a …

Only a week after the National Labor Relations Board issued a ruling broadening the definition of the term "supervisor," the decision has already thrown a wrench into contract talks between a Pennsylvania hospital and its nurses. The NLRB decision held that health care institutions can classify nurses as supervisors, denying them the right to union representation, if their duties …

Today, nurses and other caregivers represented by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) plan to take to the streets of downtown Los Angeles to protest a recent National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ruling which they say unfairly brands many in their ranks as supervisors. Earlier this week we reported that the NLRB handed down a ruling which held that, among other things, some charge nurses can legally be treated as …

> Pheonix, AZ-based Maricopa Medical Center is planning a $500 million hospital to replace its currently outdated 621-bed facility. Administrators say that the design of the old building is in need of change because it offers patients little privacy as well as several safety concerns. The hospital industry is in the midst of an ongoing building boom--they're projected to spend $20 billion on construction …

> Union members at John Muir Center in Concord, Calif., began their planned two-day strike yesterday. Last week the SEIU leaked a an internal John Muir Physician Network memo that instructed doctors not to "refer patients for a screening colonoscopy if their life expectancy is less than five years." …

A bill moving through the California Legislature would allow state regulators to fine hospitals $100,000 for providing improper patient care. The bill would be enacted in two steps. First, regulators could slap hospitals with a $25,000 fine for endangering patients by January 1. Second, regulators could pursue the $100,000 fine, taking into consideration the hospital's history of compliance. The bill, which is supported by the SEIU, California Medical Association and California Nurses …

In California, the SEIU has leaked an internal John Muir Physician Network (JMPN) memo that instructs doctors not to "refer patients for a screening colonoscopy if their life expectancy is less than five years." The memo orders doctors to deny the test to patients with AIDS, chronic renal failure, advanced cirrhosis of the liver, COPD, active hepatitis, obesity and other conditions. The memo also threatens "financial penalties" for doctors who don't comply with the order. Taken at face …

A tentative agreement on a new contract has been reached between two locals of the Service Employees International Union and Catholic Healthcare West, the operator of several Central Valley hospitals as well as others throughout California. The contract affects 12,000 certified nursing assistants, radiology technicians, respiratory therapists, dietary aides and other employees at 24 hospitals in the state. The union and hospital chain had reached an agreement in March but negotiations …