Monthly Archives: March 2013

03.28.13
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Press Release-Minnesota Nurses Welcome Swanson’s Inquiry into Hospital Merger

Nurses support Attorney General Review of Sanford-Fairveiw

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Jan Rabbers
(office) 651-414-2861
(cell) 612-860-8858
jan.rabbers@mnnurses.org
Rick Fuentes
(office) 651-414-2863
(cell) 612-741-0662
rick.fuentes@mnnurses.org

(St. Paul) – March 28, 2013 – The Minnesota Nurses Association welcomes Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson’s inquiry into the possible merger of Sanford Health and Fairview Health Services and the continued corporatization of healthcare in Minnesota.  Investigators need to continue to look into the effects that big corporations are having on Minnesota patients.

“We congratulate Lori Swanson for having the courage to examine any deal that further puts the operation of more Minnesota hospitals into the hands of fewer corporations,” said Walt Frederickson, RN, MNA Executive Director.  “It’s time to hit the brakes on hospital mergers until we can determine what’s best for the state and especially its patients.”

Sanford and Fairview are reportedly in talks to merge, which would put the Fairview-run University of Minnesota Medical Center and the state research hospital under the control of a South Dakota company.  Fairview’s Board of Directors will reportedly discuss the merger at a retreat starting April 8, 2013.

“Considering it took more than a year to accept Fairview’s acquisition of the University hospital,” Frederickson said, “it’s entirely appropriate and necessary for the A-G’s office to start public hearings on April 7.  If this deal gets fast-tracked, it will be the people and patients of Minnesota who may be met with an unhappy surprise.”

As nurses previously warned during the Park Nicollet-HealthPartners merger, one size does not fit all, and any deal that impacts patients deserves close scrutiny.   Especially when a deal involves tax dollars and a non-profit/for-profit relationship, then that deal deserves a microscope.

Nurses have long warned that focus on the bottom-line has cost them patient care hours and impacted patient outcomes.  The concerns that hospital care had turned to a production-line process led 12,000 union nurses to walk off the job for a day in 2010.  Today those fears continue to materialize.  If such simple costs as staffing are cut to meet the demands of a spreadsheet, then the investment of research and medical training will be subject to the same cost-benefit analysis.  What’s different here is the investment in Minnesota’s medical professionals pays off by the decade, not the fiscal year, as more than 70 percent of doctors in the state are trained here and Minnesota continues to employ tens of thousands of other medical device and health care workers.

“The state and the citizens of Minnesota have faithfully invested into the research and education at the University of Minnesota,” Frederickson said, “and we believe these resources need to stay in the control of Minnesotans.  Nurses will continue to monitor and assist in the process in any way we can.”

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03.28.13
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Letter: Hospital staffing needs accountability

Julia Morrissey, RN

By: Julia Morrissey, nurse, Ann Arbor

Opinion March 28, 2013 at 1:00 am

I’m a registered nurse who actually knows what patients need when they’re in the hospital. So I was outraged by The Detroit News’ distorted editorial about a bill to require all Michigan hospitals to meet minimal levels of nurse staffing (March 14, “State shouldn’t mandate hospital staffing levels”).

Few people realize there are no laws requiring hospitals to have enough nurses on duty at any time.

Some hospitals work well with nurses to manage staffing levels appropriately. With no accountability, though, too many purposely understaff just to save a few dollars.

This widespread practice is dangerous for patients and can even be deadly.

Continue reading →

03.28.13
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Jeff Breslin: Workers’ spirit stronger than Right To Work

Jeff Breslin, Michigan RN

Commentary by: Jeff Breslin, RN 

Today is a sad day in our state’s history as the so-called “right to work” law takes effect.

From the start, Gov. Rick Snyder insisted that this radical anti-worker legislation wasn’t on his agenda.

In December, he showed his true colors and signed “right to work for less,” pleasing millionaire Dick DeVos and other corporate interests while betraying the rest of us.

The undemocratic, illegal process used to pass that law was shameful. The bills were rushed through the Legislature in a way Michigan has never seen, without public comment and with citizens locked out of the Capitol at times.

Now Michigan is just another RTW state, handed over to corporations in a race to the bottom.

Gov. Snyder should know this, though: Michigan’s nurses and other working families are committed to overcoming this injustice.

The law is being challenged in court on grounds that it was passed in violation of the First Amendment and the Open Meetings Act and that it violates the constitution and federal labor laws.

Even if these laws are wrongly upheld, Michigan’s working families are focused on replacing the politicians who have torn our state apart.

Michigan voters aren’t stupid — they see that Gov. Snyder and his friends in the Legislature serve their corporate friends, not those of us who actually work for a living.

It’s no surprise that Gov. Snyder’s approval ratings plummeted after he signed “right to work.”

Michigan families will be working hard to overcome this unjust law through the courts and the political process, and most of all we will keep doing what we’ve always done: work hard to take care of our fellow citizens, build Michigan’s unions and our middle class. As the old labor movement saying goes: “Don’t mourn — organize.”

Registered nurses like me, teachers, construction workers and others will be in our workplaces every day, talking to our co-workers to build solidarity and keep our voices strong in the face of corporations that want to silence us.

That, essentially, is what “right to work” is about — corporations and CEOs silencing and dividing workers so they can cut our wages, benefits and safety standards for their own gain.

As for “worker freedom,” I have to laugh every time a politician uses that term. The only “freedom” a worker gets under RTW is the freedom to receive union benefits while letting everyone else pay the costs. The “freedom” to refuse to pay your fair share isn’t the kind of freedom most workers want in their workplace.

“Right to work” is meant to play on this tension between workers — something Gov. Snyder and the GOP acknowledged when they exempted firefighters and police officers.

The law could create divisions among them, they said.

Well, a law that’s good for some workers should be good for all workers – but “right to work” isn’t good for any of us.

Fortunately, the spirit of Michigan workers is stronger than the letter of this law.

That spirit will shine more than ever in the months to come

Jeff Breslin is a registered nurse at Sparrow Hospital and president of the Michigan Nurses Association.

SOURCE >>

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