By Kathleen Carey

– The 600-member nurses’ union at the Crozer-Chester Medical Center in Upland voted overwhelmingly to approve a strike Wednesday with union officials continuing to cite staffing and safety as the key issues impeding a new contract. Crozer-Keystone Health System officials said they don’t understand why a strike is being authorized at this point.

“From the nurses’ perspective, we have proposals to get Crozer to take a closer look to improve staffing levels,” Bill Cruice, executive director of the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals, said.

The member nurses voted 350-2 to give their bargaining committee the authorization to call a strike, Cruice said, adding that any action would be preceded by a 10-day notice. “Our hope is, of course, to avoid the possibility of a strike,” he said.

A statement released by Grant Gegwich, Crozer-Keystone’s vice president of public relations and marketing, outlined the management’s position.

“We do not understand why the union is threatening to strike when they have not yet given us a complete set of proposals and have failed to respond to many of ours,” it read in part. “Out of the few proposals the union has given us, one proposes a staffing model that is not as good as the one we already maintain.”

Cruice said the union and the hospital have been negotiating for about five weeks, and more sessions are planned for May 28 and 29 with a federal mediator in attendance. The Crozer-Keystone statement said they have offered many dates for bargaining but the union only accepted four prior to the June 8 contract expiration.

Wage increases are not on the table for either party, Cruice said.

“It’s just not our focus right now,” he said, adding that staffing and security were the nurses’ main concerns.

The hospital statement said most of the proposals include wage increases and additional benefits. It did not specify, however, which side introduced these proposals.

Cruice said the nurses want the hospital to consider the magnitude of patients’ maladies when determining staffing rather than strict patient-to-nurse ratios.

“We want them to look at the severity of the illness,” he said. “There are a lot of patients who are very, very ill when they come to Crozer.”

In addition, Cruice said safety is a priority, especially following an incident last July when a patient who was lying in her hospital bed was struck in the abdomen by a stray bullet shortly before midnight after a shot was fired outside the hospital.

Citing safety as a priority, Crozer-Keystone officials stated changes such as additional security officers and back-ups, additional security cameras, non-lethal devices for security officers and controlled access for nursing units on evening shifts have been implemented.

In addition, they pointed to the creation of a Caregiver Support Team that assists employees in stressful situations and created partnerships with local police to enhance response time and support.

Cruice said the hospital wants to change some of the medical benefits.

“The hospital is always trying to cut benefits that nurses have,” Cruice said, “but, we’re focused on trying to improve conditions for nurses.”

Last year, Crozer-Kesytone joined with Abington Health, Aria Health and the Einstein Healthcare Network. Cruice said one of the hospital’s proposals is that employees who use hospitals outside of this alliance have to pay 25 percent of their medical bills after their deductible.

“Given where people live, it doesn’t really help much,” he said. “Nurses who work day-in, day-out, sometimes dodging bullets, we think it’s simply not right that they have to have such a huge burden when their own family is ill.”

The Crozer statement said the alliance would provide employees additional, more cost-effective choices.

The hospital system has faced a difficult year.

In February, Crozer-Keystone officials announced they were eliminating 250 employees, including physicians and managers, after losing almost $16 million in seven months. Funding issues arose due to the decline in hospital admissions, the continuing decrease in state funding and reimbursements, the smaller number of patients who have private insurance and the lower-than-anticipated volume of patients signing up on the Federal Insurance Exchange.

In addition, Moody’s Investors Service downgraded the system’s debt and Crozer Keystone’s bond rating went from Baaa3 to Ba2.

“We are disappointed in the ratings change,” system officials said in their statement. “Unfortunately, changes in health care continue to have a negative effect on Crozer-Keystone and many other health care providers in our region and throughout the country.”

It said the management has cut costs and increased efficiencies in the system in what they believe will have a positive impact on their financial future.

Cruice said while Crozer’s current situation is challenging, the system’s previous financial stature has been a contrast.

“Over the last 14 years, Crozer’s finances have been remarkably consistent of being in the black and making a modest profit,” he said. “They might have an off year this year but their finances have been remarkably consistent over the years.”

The Crozer-Keystone statement indicated officials hope for more bargaining.

“We are happy to discuss staffing, safety and all other issues affecting our nurses,” it read. “But we cannot make progress until the union gives us proposals or counterproposals to discuss and agrees to bargaining dates upon which we can discuss them.

“We hope that if the union is truly concerned with patient care and safety, it will cease talking about walking out on patients,” it continued. “We deeply appreciate the understanding of our community as we work to resolve this matter.”
Source – http://www.delcotimes.com/business/20140522/crozer-chester-medical-centers-nurses-union-authorizes-strike