Thursday, April 19, 2012WARREN, Ohio – Workers at Trumbull Memorial Hospital say staffing levels are at the bare minimum right now, and are asking owner ValleyCare Health Systems of Ohio to maintain or increase these numbers as negotiations for a new labor contract continue.
About 50 members of the Service Employees International Union and other labor organizations rallied outside Trumbull Memorial Wednesday in an effort to bring attention to the ongoing labor talks and called upon ValleyCare to settle the contract.
"We're calling on ValleyCare, to make the commitment to the community that they are going to provide the staffing levels that the hospital needs to continue to provide the quality services the patients deserve," said Mary Ann Hupp, administrative organizer with SEIU District 1199.
The union represents the technical and professional employees of the hospital, and is in negotiations with administrators to replace the contract that expired March 31.
"Things are still moving along, I don't think we're in trouble," Hupp said. But she said the SEIU wants ValleyCare to commit to providing adequate staffing levels they feel are necessary to deliver quality care to Trumbull County residents. "These are employees that have given millions since 2004 in concessions to help the hospital remain solvent," she said. "They commit their lives to their work."
The contract was extended to April 30, and both sides are still at the bargaining table. "We're still talking, but it's going incrementally and we'd like to see this get wrapped up."
Trumbull Memorial said in a statement that it's committed to "providing excellent care for our patients and we greatly appreciate the many who proudly deliver that care day in and day out," noting the hospital system strives to preserve good working conditions, pay and benefits to its employees.
The hospital said it is "hopeful that both sides will remain focused on those negotiations so that a mutually acceptable agreement can be reached soon."
SEIU represents about 350 members at Trumbull Memorial's main operation on East Market Street as well as satellite locations that handle the hospital systems administrative and business affairs.
Hupp said that union bargainers don't have a "magic number" in mind about what constitutes adequate staffing levels, but said the organization has cut jobs to the point where its become very difficult for employees to continue to work longer hours.
"They're dedicated," she said of SEIU members. "It's to the point where you've got overtime involved and vacation time involved. We can't afford any more."
When ValleyCare acquired Trumbull Memorial two years ago as part of its purchase of the former Forum Health system, which also included Northside Medical Center in Youngstown and Hillside Rehabilitation Hospital in Howland, Hupp said that SEIU represented about 400 members at Trumbull. That number is down to about 350.
"Our concern is that we worry about the future with staffing," Hupp said, "that they're going to cut yet more, and that's not going to be a good thing."
Copyright 2012 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.