State Reps Quote CEO: Northside 'Could' Close
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- The CEO of ValleyCare Health System of Ohio and Northside Medical Center told two area state legislators at the conclusion of a meeting this morning that the hospital’s parent company “could close” Northside.
Kirk Ray, CEO of ValleyCare and Northside, met with state Reps. Ron Gerberry, D-59 Austintown, and Bob Hagan, D-58 Youngstown, at Ray’s request following a letter sent to him by the local legislative delegation to Columbus. Last week, registered nurses at Northside, represented by the Youngstown General Duty Nurses Association, staged a one-day walkout at Northside to protest the lack of a current contract.
As the 45-mintue meeting concluded, Ray told the legislators that ownership “basically said, ‘We could close,’” Hagan said. “’Not that we would, but we could,’” he added.
“He said that twice, that this is not a threat,” Gerberry added.
Asked by The Business Journal for a response, the hospital issue this statement:
“Northside Medical Center is committed to serving this community and has no plans to close. Millions are big invested to improve the hospital. Most recently, we’ve begun a $20 million expansion of our emergency and patient care areas that will enhance the patient experience and add to the quality of care provided.”
During the meeting with Ray, the legislators “offered to do as much as we could to be a part of negotiations to get people back to the negotiating table,” Hagan said. The CEO “did not take kindly to our interference, interruption or participation in that.
“He made it clear that they are investing quite a bit in the Valley and they have made the last, best offer they have to give,” Hagan continued. “We encouraged them to sit and negotiate.”
The $20 million renovation and expansion that started this summer, “the first major construction project on our campus in more than 15 years,” according to Northside, is part of $80 million it pledged to spend on its newly acquired Mahoning Valley assets in 2010 as part of the purchase agreement. “Since then, ValleyCare Health System of Ohio has invested approximately $50 million to improve hospital facilities such as the ongoing transition to private patient rooms, update technology, add new medical equipment and recruit physicians,” the hospital said.
In the hospital's statement, spokeswoman Trish Hrina, vice president of marketing and public relations for ValleyCare, said ValleyCare’s labor relations team, which includes the hospital’s labor relations director, has been bargaining in good faith with ONA representatives in face-to-face meetings on more than 20 occasions.
“Our final offer includes a 2.5% wage increase for all of the hospital’s RNs as well as a comprehensive medical benefit plan and processes for staffing the hospital according to the volume and needs of patients in our care,” Hrina said. “We very much want to provide a wage increase for our nurses. That is why we have offered a short term contract -- that enables the increases to be put in place now -- but also provides for the parties to return to negotiations again soon, to address other matters.”
The hospital also took issue with ONA’s “propaganda and false claims” that its final offer would “prevent nurses from advocating” for their patients. “There is absolutely nothing in the hospital’s proposals that would change the right and responsibility of our nurses to provide input, raise concerns and actively participate in efforts to advance quality or to speak up about any matter that impacts quality care for patients,” Hrina said.
Meanwhile, the nurses gathered at this morning’s shift change for “a show of unity and support” as the last nurses that participated in the one-day strike were called back to work.
According to a news release from the union, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown called the president of YGDNA, Eric Williams, over the weekend to express his support for the nurses’ effort to negotiate a contract. Earlier this month, Brown offered to help facilitate continued bargaining.
An all-membership meeting of the YGDNA will take place tomorrow, according to the release. The agenda will include a discussion of the next steps in the campaign to achieve a new contract.
Copyright 2013 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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