Service Employees International Union (SEIU)

Judge stops expansion of CA hospital

Anne Zieger — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 15:49:21 -0400

Now here's a situation no hospital administrator wants to face: This week, a judge ordered a San Fernando Valley hospital to halt construction on its $180-million expansion until the Los Angeles City Council decides whether more environmental review is needed. The order, which comes as the result of requests by a group challenging the expansion, requires the facility to stop work until the Council either approves the project with an eight-vote majority or orders an environmental impact report.

The hospital, Providence Holy Cross Medical Center, started work four months ago on its new hospital tower. The tower will provided an initial 101 beds and as many as 35 more in coming years. However, it's being challenged by area residents and by the SEIU, which is embroiled in a labor dispute with the hospital's operator.

To learn more about the dispute:
- read this Los Angeles Times piece

Coalition protests healthcare cuts in CA

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 06:59:57 -0400

It's somewhat ironic that a Governor as well known for his commitment to physical fitness as he is for being an aging action adventure hero has proposed deep budget cuts that could leave more than one million Californians without access to healthcare. But if adopted, Arnold Schwarzenegger's budget proposals would cut Medicaid spending by more than $1.1 billion in the fiscal year that begins next Tuesday.

A coalition of providers, carriers, labor unions and consumer advocates have joined forces to protest the cuts. The coalition includes Catholic Healthcare West; the Service Employees International Union; AARP and Health Access California; Kaiser Permanente and Health Net. In January, the same group failed to convince legislators to support a bill that would have funded a $15 billion health care expansion. The proposed cuts are expected to be approved because California has a $17 billion deficit.

Providers are rallying where they can to come up with strategies for ensuring access. For example, Health Net of California said that it will provide up to $5 million in emergency loans to keep safety-net health clinics vulnerable to budget cuts open.

For more info:
- see The Los Angeles Times story

AMA, SEIU ask court to stop UnitedHealth deal

Fri, 16 May 2008 06:59:56 -0400

A group of opponents including the AMA and the SEIU Nevada have filed suit to stop UnitedHealth Group's planned buyout of Las Vegas-based health plan Sierra Health Services. The deal already has been approved by the U.S. Department of Justice, but the groups are asking a federal court to reject the DoJ's decision. Groups opposing the buyout also include the Clark County Medical Society, Nevada State Medical Association and Clark County Commissioner Chris Giunchigliani. The groups say that the combined entity poses the threat of cutting physician compensation, as it would blend two of the three largest buyers of medical services in Clark County.

The two companies previously had signed a consent order with the DoJ that would allow the $2.6 billion deal to move ahead as long as UHG sold most of its SecureHorizons Medicare Advantage business in Las Vegas. (Humana said it would buy UnitedHealth's MA plan for $185 million.) However, the consent order has to be approved by the court.

To learn more about this challenge to UnitedHealth:
- read this Modern Healthcare piece (reg. req.)

Related Articles:
DoJ OKs UnitedHealth buyout of Sierra
AMA tries to block UnitedHealth acquisition
AMA cites antitrust activity among insurers

Hospital says IA House speaker used position for retaliation

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 06:59:56 -0400

An Iowa hospital is accusing state House Speaker Pat Murphy of using his position to punish it after a labor dispute involving his wife. The facility, Dubuque-based Finley Hospital, notes that the speaker was involved in a dispute between the Service Employees International Union and management at the hospital. During the argument, Murphy urged the hospital's leaders to resign, contending that they'd engaged in unfair job terminations. Now, Finley says, Murphy has struck back, writing a bill raising Medicaid reimbursements to the state's medical providers by 1 percent--while specifically excluding Finley from the increase. While the bill has passed both houses of the state legislature, some legislators remain concerned that excluding Finley may lead CMS to reject the planned increase entirely.

To learn more about the dispute:
- read this Chicago Tribune article

ALSO NOTED: NY hospital being investigated over deaths; New Jersey hospitals struggling; and much more...

Mon, 11 Feb 2008 06:59:50 -0500

> A Long Island, N.Y. hospital is being investigated over the questionable deaths of four patients, including a woman who had an unnecessary mastectomy and died due to surgical complications. Article

> The story of two financially-stressed New Jersey hospitals gives a troubling picture of the state's struggling hospital system. Article

> With the city of San Francisco making steep budget cuts, its public hospital may be forced to delay some surgeries. Article

> HealthPartners and the SEIU have managed to avoid a strike that would have stopped work for 1,500 non-physician employees. Article

> A Medicare official says there's an even better case now for restricting payments for Amgen and Johnson & Johnson's big anemia drugs. According to the agency's chief medical officer, two more studies have cast doubt on the safety of Aranesp, Epogen, and Procrit, which together generated more than $5 billion in sales in 2007. The drugs are one of the biggest prescription costs for Medicare. Report

> The watchdogs are circling direct-to-consumer drug commercials. Report

And Finally... When doctors become patients, does it make them better at what they do? Article

Home health workers vote 'yes' to SEIU

Fri, 09 Nov 2007 06:59:54 -0500

As FierceHealthcare readers know, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) has been attempting to organize Massachusetts' roughly 20,000 home health assistants. Yesterday, the home health workers voted to join the SEIU, giving the union a leg up at a moment when it's fighting even higher-profile battles to unionize within area teaching hospitals. Observers say the SEIU won support among the assistants by making pitches above and beyond its ability to raise wages and improve benefits; for example, it worked to sell state policymakers on the need for home care workers and the cost savings their help could offer.

The vote adds another large bloc of participants to the 1199SEIU, which already has 300,000 members. Observers speculate that the additional members will help the SEIU prevail in its organizing efforts at facilities like Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.

To learn more about the vote:
- read this piece from The Boston Globe

Related Articles:
SEIU may make headway in MA. Report
SEIU plans to form healthcare unit. Report
After battle with SEIU, Sutter officials must pay staff for lockout. Report
SEIU leads memo that causes problems for John Muir Physician Network. Report
Union targets Boston teaching hospital. Report
SEIU supports bill allowing fines for improper hospital care. Report

SEIU may make headway in MA

Thu, 08 Nov 2007 06:59:56 -0500

It's looking like the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) could be gaining a new foothold in Massachusetts, where it's working hard to organize workers within Boston's influential teaching hospitals. The SEIU branch backing the vote, 1199SEIU, says it's 300,000 and retirees already make it the largest union local in the world. The union will learn today whether the state's 22,000 home healthcare workers have also voted to unionize.

Adding this new group of workers wouldn't just boost its membership, it would also give the SEIU local group more leverage in efforts to organize at the teaching hospitals, which will employ some of the home healthcare workers. It might possibly give it more juice in some tough negotiations with the hospitals, as well. The SEIU is currently asking hospitals to voluntarily give up some of their rights under the National Labor Relations Act, and among other things, allow the union to schedule an organizing vote earlier than the rules allow.

To learn more about the SEIU's efforts:
- read this piece in The Boston Globe

Related Articles:
SEIU plans to form healthcare unit. Report
After battle with SEIU, Sutter officials must pay staff for lockout. Report
SEIU leads memo that causes problems for John Muir Physician Network. Report
Union targets Boston teaching hospital. Report
SEIU supports bill allowing fines for improper hospital care. Report

Yale-New Haven fined $4.5M for union interference

Wed, 24 Oct 2007 06:59:56 -0400

An arbitrator has slapped Yale-New Haven Hospital with a $4.5 million fine after concluding that the hospital interfered in a union election. In a 47-page decision, arbitrator Margaret Kern held that the hospital had engaged in a "methodical dismantling" of an election agreement struck between the hospitals, union and the city of New Haven.

The Service Employees International Union, which had planned to hold the election in December, had called it off in December, alleging that the hospital had intimidated union supporters and spread incorrect information. The arbitrator is now requiring Yale-New Haven to pay the union $2.3 million for its organizing expenses. She's also demanding that the hospital pay $2.2 million to the 1,700 employees who would have been eligible to vote--a sum equal to the amount it spent on anti-union consultants.

To learn more about the dispute:
- read this New Haven Independent piece

Related Articles:
Some striking Sutter nurses face lockout. Report
Hundreds of Appalachian nurses go on strike. Report
Beth Israel, union fight war of words. Report
SEIU plans to form healthcare unit. Report
After battle with SEIU, Sutter officials must pay staff for lockout. Report

Manor Care buyer puts staffing promises in writing

Tue, 23 Oct 2007 06:59:57 -0400

Bowing to pressure from the Service Employees International Union, investment firm The Carlyle Group has made some written promises regarding staffing, training and investment in its Manor Care subsidiary. Carlyle execs vowed yesterday that they would provide adequate staffing levels and training--as well as making appropriate infrastructure investments--to make sure patients get quality care at Manor Care facilities. They're sending a written promise to this effect to state regulators across the U.S. While some observers have slammed the statement as vague and unenforceable, others suggest that the mere existence of a written pledge represents meaningful progress.

Carlyle recently agreed to pay $6.3 billion to acquire Manor Care, one of the largest U.S. long-term care providers, which has 500 facilities under management. Since that time, however, it's faced very public challenges from the SEIU, which has been working to organize the company's 60,000 employees.

To learn more about Carlyle's promises:
- read this piece in The Washington Post

Related Articles:
Manor Care goes private in $6.3B deal. Report
Genesis HealthCare to go private. Report

Palo Alto Medical Foundation adds MDs, hospital

Mon, 22 Oct 2007 06:59:57 -0400

Things are humming along for the Palo Alto (CA) Medical Foundation (PAMF), which has just announced not only approval for its $375 million-odd dollar hospital project but also a merger with two area medical groups. PAMF, which is part of Sutter Health, is merging with Camino Medical Group and the Santa Cruz Medical Clinic as of January 1, 2008; the combined entity will have a roster of about 850 physicians. Meanwhile, PAMF has gotten the green light to move ahead with its planned 97-beds, $375 million hospital and medical complex in San Carlos, despite strong opposition from the Service Employees International Union and Catholic Healthcare West-affiliated competitor Sequoia Hospital. In the future, PAMF hopes to bulk up to about 1,500 doctors, a move which should help Sutter compete with Kaiser Permanente in northern California.

To learn more about PAMF's plans:
- read this San Francisco Business Times article