Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital Under Fire From Union Again : View From A Private Duty Caregiver Serving, Carmel, Carmel Valley Carmel-by-the-Sea, Gonzalez, Gilroy, Hollister, King City, Marina, Monterey, Pacific Grove, Pebble Beach, Salinas, Seaside & Soledad California
Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital is once again in the press with bad news, this time in front page story in the Monterey Herald which said a group of labor and community leaders are calling for an investigation of the hospital's board which is said to be considering a possible sale or privatization of the public district hospital. The National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW) have asked the State Attorney General to investigate whether the hospital board violated state law by discussing such things in private. The hospital responded that they are within their rights to discuss such matters in private. The hospital paid McKinsey & Company $930,000 for a 132 page report which recommended they consider merging or affiliating with a larger health care system or a stand alone hospital like Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula (CHOMP) within the next two years. Union officials are pressing the board of directors to release the report to the public. However, the hospital commissioned the report via its legal counsel and it's now subject to attorney-client privilege. The hospital has been in a protracted battle with the union after reduced revenues have forced them to lay off hundreds of workers, including those that are unionized. "What this amounts to is a conspiracy to privatize the hospital and to conceal those plans from public taxpayers, patients and the general public. This is what's been behind management's crusade to cut the jobs and benefits of caregivers all along, and the hospital board didn't want the public to know about it. They were willing to break the law to keep their plans secret," charged NUHS VP John Borsos. It's a shame that these union problems continue to drag on, taking up significant management time when they should be focused on making the hospital safe for patients.
http://www.montereyherald.com/local/ci_18416721
About Richard Kuehn & Family inHome Caregiving of Monterey:
After more than a decade of caregiving, both in a professional environment and for a 97 year old family member I was dissatisfied with service from local caregiving agencies. I became convinced of the need for a service which provides very personal assistance to the elderly and founded Family inHome Caregiving serving the Monterey Peninsula. Please visit my blog where I talk about important senior issues at:
http://www.familyinhomecaregiving.com/Blog
About Richard Kuehn & Family inHome Caregiving of Monterey:
After more than a decade of caregiving, both in a professional environment and for a 97 year old family member I was dissatisfied with service from local caregiving agencies. I became convinced of the need for a service which provides very personal assistance to the elderly and founded Family inHome Caregiving serving the Monterey Peninsula. Please visit my blog where I talk about important senior issues at:
http://www.familyinhomecaregiving.com/Blog