There’s a nice contrast to be had between Anestine Bentick (above), a Boston healthcare worker who was taken off her job to listen to anti-union propaganda while her patients wandered into the street, and Paul Levy, CEO of Beth Israel, who seems to be coming off his rails a bit.
From Levy’s blog, and a post entitled “Do you respect me more or less?”
I don’t see any of this or my other comments as anti-union or unreasonable, but anyone is free to disagree. To me, what is more striking is the silence on the part of my colleagues from other hospitals, the insurance companies, and the business leaders in the state. Civic leadership demands that corporate and institutional leaders be clear where they stand on major issues of the day. And this is one. The SEIU has made it clear that it is targeting all of the Boston hospitals for organizing efforts. Dear colleagues, if you support what it is doing, please say so publicly. If you do not, now would be a good time to be heard. I know what you are saying privately, in the confines of those business meetings and board rooms . . . but it doesn’t mean squat if you are not saying it to your elected representatives, the media, and the public. The SEIU is counting on your intimidated silence as a form of complicity. So far, you are squarely in the union’s camp.
Oh Paul, I know you’re new to this blogging thing, but it’s not for the emotionally needy. Go buy one of those dime store diaries to transcribe all those personal insecurities, or better yet, just pull the petals off a daisy (”they love me, they love me not…”) and leave no written record.
Beth Israel had $39.1 million in income from hospital operations last year, and gains from investments and other revenue put their total profit at $62.5 million (pdf). It’s really not too much to ask that during any labor negotiation people like Anestine Bentick be allowed to remain focused on their patients and not have hospital revenue used to force them to listen to paid union-busting hacks.
As chic as the modern hospital gown is, it’s probably not fashion appropriate to the average boulevard.
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Jane!
Hi Jane!
You go Jane!!!
blub
And for everyone else a reminder:
It’s Christy’s and Siun’s birthday.
I’ve said this before, nurses are the heart of healthcare.
k.. to be fair to Massachusetts healthcare (and Levy’s important in setting policy in that state).. you can actually get insured there, outside of group coverage, for $95-200 per month (minimum package), in a state-supported HMO, open to everybody. That’s $800 per month in New York and an arm and two legs in California.
OK, I disagree.
We had two daughters born at Beth Israel, and I can assure you, it was the nurses we remember, not the administrators…
little off topic but on health care
I am surprised a fox ancho actually hit a point on schip that the progressives missed;
my bold and that’s a point that I think we missed
A tiny nit to pick–you might want to say “$39M in income from operations” to make clear it was their operating profit. Just “income” sounds like their revenue, which was over $1.1B last year. Also, in addition to the annual profits, BIDMC’s net assets are worth north of $500M.
First. Happy, happy birthday to Christy and Siun!!!
Re: Levy. Wow. Maybe he’s finding it scary to realize he is blowing in the wind…alone. Maybe he’s thinking about what that means. Maybe he’s thinking that it is more gratifying to belong, than to be greedy. Maybe he’ll have an epiphany.
Maybe not. He’s grasping though, and that is a good thing…it is trying to hold on to what you thought you think with the possibility that thinking differently may be better. Instead of being “off with their heads”, he’s sort of searching…”what about my head?”….
I dunno…..interesting.
Shorter Levy:
Sounds like he lost his.binky.
Blow me over now….JC Watts?, anyway Repub guy on Wolf Blitzer, just said the Repubs should care about children “after” they are born and take care of them, and they should care about poverty….
My, my.
Professor Foland @ 10
IIRC, the other two hospitals in the area, B&H and CHMC had combined non-hospital investment and properties of $1 billion. That was ten years ago. The Globe did a series about how CHMC was always crying poverty and was sitting on >$500 million in non-hospital assets. Sounds like not much has changed. On the flip side, at least when I was there, I never saw a patient turned away or denied care due to inability to pay.
I’m sympathetic to the nurse and the union, but “blogs aren’t for the emotionally needy” is bullshit.
It might be inappropriate and sad for a CEO to beg for help, but that’s another issue.
I see “emotionally needy” stuff here daily and on most other blogs. No big deal — the personal touch makes it more compelling and real than other sources of information and opinion.
Happy birthday to Christy and Siun. You’re both unique and valuable righteous voices. May you have many more years in which to raise them.
OT, re the FISA filibuster, Sen. Biden just said he would join Sen. Dodd’s hold and filibuster. He was on a WaPo livechat.
Susan in Iowa @ 17
I submitted a similar question, I didn’t like his one word response, he should have elaborated a little more…!!!
Yes.. happy birthday!
H*A*P*P*Y B*I*R*T*H*D*A*Y to Christy and Siun!!
But … but … but what is this, this blog is not my thereapist?? Then why am I lying down while I type?
OT, but important I think, I missed this.
“A vote on Attorney General nominee Mike Mukasey “could be delayed until he provides written answers to questions raised Thursday” by Senate Judiciary Chairman Pat Leahy (D-VT). In yesterday’s hearings, Mukasey refused to denounce torture and expressed support for expanded executive authority.”
http://thinkprogress.org/2007/…..r-19-2007/
CTuttle @ 18
What more than Q: Will you join Sen. Chris Dodd’s hold and proposed filibuster on any FISA bill that includes retroactive immunity for telecoms? A: Yes.
Seems unequivocal to me. Sometimes more words means obfuscation. Sometimes yes means yes.
behindthefall @ 20
Sometimes it is just too much…here…have a beer, it’s Friday night!!! Almost.
LS @ 21
good!
I hope Leahy does put a hold on it, Mukasey’s answers yesterday were unacceptable
Happy Birthday to Christy and Siun!
Can I get some of the cake?
I haven’t formed an opinion yet about this issue. I am familiar with the hospitals mentioned in this and other stories.
Beth Israel is renowned for its nursing care. It is for that very reason that my sister chose it for her breast cancer care and follow ups which continue to this day.
My parents chose the other campus of the hospital for much of their care. It has “felt like home” to them. Indeed, when she died recently after a long illness, my stepmother died in that hospital surrounded by family.
SEIU is coming in from New York to actively seek to unionize the teaching hospitals of Boston. According to this Boston Globe article:
Beth Israel CEO Paul Levy says that the Service Employees International Union uses a strategy that includes attacking the reputations of hospitals, its senior management and its trustees. In an item posted on his blog Monday called “Pages from the Playbook,” Levy says one part of the approach is to accuse hospitals of not carrying out their public service mission.
Last week, union Local 1199 sent a report to Beth Israel trustees alleging that the hospital made “potentially misleading representation of charity care” in its financial statements.
This follows a report from the union last month that said Beth Israel has higher emergency room costs than other major hospitals in Boston and as a result uses more of the state’s uncompensated care pool to gain reimbursement for free care to uninsured patients, according to this Globe story. Beth Israel said then that it follows the rules and regulations governing the pool and had not received any indication to the contrary from the state.
————————–
My best friend trained at one of the leading hospitals in the town and has been a nurse there for more than twenty five years. I will be asking her for her opinions and those of the nurses she knows well. Nurses have advocated for themselves forcefully in the past. I will find out if they feel they need the SEIU to do it for them.
haapppppyeeeeee birthdayyyyyyeeee 2222222222222…uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu
Garuda @ 16
First, please apologize to Jane right now.
Second, reading comprehension is a wonderful thing. Here’s a quote from Jane’s post: “From Levy’s blog, and a post entitled “Do you respect me more or less?”
If you’ve ever seen a “POST” at FDL where the author of the post asked for emotional support, as Paul Levy did in the POST he authored, please link to it, I missed it.
Jane – I love this. More. More. Maybe it’s all my experience with the healthcare industry that shapes my opinion but there is nothing like repeated experiences to give one a clear focus on reality.
Executives are very vain. Do you know how easy it is to replace a CEO? I can do it in a heart beat (will deliberately take longer so it looks like I worked for my big fat fee). Doing searches for nurses, now that is serious demanding hard work.
Dear Chief Executive Levy sounds scared he is being considered for replacement. Now that would be painful surgery – for him.
Happy Birthday Christy and Siun!
Re: Biden–”YES”
That is a good response for him. If I am counting correctly, that means Biden, Feingold and Dodd. I would think Reid will have a tough time doing a ‘work-around’ on these three.
What about Leahy. Where is he on this.
I am more convinced than ever that this is a stuggle for the mind and soul of the Democratic Party. Most importantly though, it is a struggle for the heart of my party.
well, this will give everyone a lift, I took this off of the lead at c&L;
“I’m just amazed that the Republicans are worried that we can’t pay for insuring an additional 10 million children. They sure don’t care about finding $200 billion to fight the illegal War in Iraq.
“”President Bush’s statements about children’s health shouldn’t be taken any more seriously than his lies about the War in Iraq. The truth is that that Bush just likes to blow things up – in Iraq, in the United States, and in Congress.
After Rep. Pete Stark made his harsh statements against the Republicans and Bush over the SCHIP veto, the right wingers are trying to change the subject again by feigning outrage against him. Stark also didn’t fall for the MoveOn ad outrage also. Good for him. CNN ran a small clip of him all morning. Here’s CNN’s poll. 88% say he shouldn’t apologize. What say you?
via emailer:
“The wingnutosphere, Drudge, John Boehner, Roy Blunt, Jeb Hensarling, the RNC, and the NRCC, on the other hand, have issued statements criticizing Congressman Stark. Republicans believe that creating a controversy around these marks will help deflect attention from their opposition to health care for children.”
In response to Republican attacks, Congressman Stark recently issued this follow-up statement:
“I have nothing but respect for our brave men and women in uniform and wish them the very best,” said Stark. “But I respect neither the Commander-in-Chief who keeps them in harms way nor the chickenhawks in Congress who vote to deny children health care.”
MAN…want to make constitutianalists like me smile?
say things like THAT!
There is an attempt to hijack the Democratic Party. I am going to fight against that attempt.
Oklahoma kiddo @ 32
Thing of it is, the same thing is happening simultaneously in the Republican and even now the Libertarian Partys. Our civic life in general is at stake if you look at the truly big picture.
QuakerGirl @ 29
Other than resisting the SEIU, do you have more information about Mr. Levy? The hospital is exceptional. Has he done other things to hurt its reputation?
Oh gosh, I feel so much better now.
AP – In its first explicit confirmation that six nuclear-armed missiles were erroneously flown from an air base in North Dakota to a base in Louisiana in late August, the Air Force on Friday called the episode an “unacceptable mistake” — of a sort that had never happened before.
LS @ 14
J.C. Watts quit Congress when he got tired of being their black face to the public. Sounds like he’s getting close to quitting the GOP altogether.
BC
casual observer @ 31
Unamused, as of yesterday.
Oklahoma kiddo @ 37
unacceptable mistake?
Mistake?
a mistake? I don’t see it.
Susan in Iowa @ 39
And yet Leahy appears to be on the verge of confirming Mukasey as AG, a smarter, more devious version of Gonzales. I don’t get him sometimes.
The choice is bullets or babies. War or health care. Reagan did his “morning in America” thing. For Bush it’s ‘dusk in America’. This prez is a rascal, and a few Democrats are helping this individual accomplish his goals.
Susan in Iowa @ 39
I hope he can withstand whatever it is that the White House uses to control the members of Congress
Oklahoma kiddo @ 37
A mistake? My ass!
Boston1775 @ 36
Yes.
alright.. this prolly won’t make me popular around here, but I actually knew Paul Levy from a past professional life, and he struck me as a person genuinely committed to social justice and progressive values. I think what you may be seeing here are not-for-profit hospital groups caught between a rock and a hard place with demands to provide affordable healthcare under the state’s new MassHealth universal health service coverage requirements and union demands. I wouldn’t just look at Beth Israel’s financials as a proxy for how rich they are.. it’s a huge group.
Since I don’t know what his specific problems with SIEU you, and I haven’t been in touch with him for years, but I have to think there’s another side to his story.. or at least what led to his soul-barring on his blog. And also please consider that Massachusetts has, with the recent reforms which he helped spearhead, may be the only state in the country that really does provide (relatively) affordable (abeit private) healthcare to its residents.
casual observer @ 31
I’m still dubious… Leahy mentioned his serious reservations to the FISA fix, during the hearing for Mukasey… I’d chalk him up as another, and, I’d add Wyden to the list of Senators…!!!
perris @ 33
Kudos to Stark!
May he not stand in Stark contrast to the centrist Dim much longer!
Ish@ 41
“And yet Leahy appears to be on the verge of confirming Mukasey as AG, a smarter, more devious version of Gonzales. I don’t get him sometimes.”
OTOH, the acting AG is a flaming wingnut. Maybe it’s a lesser of two evils question. Don’t know.
Jane Hamsher @ 45
Boston hospitals compete with one another routinely.
Susan in Iowa @ 49
the way Mukasey treated the waterboarding question?… imo he’s NOT qualified.
And I’d be a better AG than Gonzales
Susan in Iowa @ 49
Yeah, I hear you. It’s been a looong time since I felt like we didn’t have to choose between the (maybe) lesser of two (immense) evils in this country.
I have a friend from China who washes dishes for 6.00 an hour and can barely feed his family.
He has 5,000.00 $ he’d like to donate to a presidential candidate.
Elliott @ 51
Trust me, I’m not defending him. This isn’t even damning with faint praise. I just think that Leahy may not have good choices. Maybe Jane and Christy could get him on here and ask him.
I told him to send the money to Kuchinich but he said the ‘neighbourhood association’ has different ideas.
Susan in Iowa @ 54
now I see what you meant
and it would be nice if Leahy came here to chat *s*
Garuda @ 16
most CEO’s however…are a different kettle of fish, yes?
Mabel’s Wig Shack @ 53
Are you serious? I read the LAT piece about HRC.
FWIW, Stephanie Miller just called Tweety a “right-wing tool,” on HARDBALL or words to that effect. No one bleeped it and Matthews was caught totally off guard and looked really really pissed.
Boo Radley @ 59
Mama is a sharp instrument herself. 8~)
Susan in Iowa @ 58
no, i’m not really serious. well, i am. but I don’t have a friend from china.
I have a Chinese restaurant I order from all the time. The kid who brings me my Kung Pao Chicken has $2300 for donatin’!
finifinito @ 62
$2300?!
Elliott @ 63
For $2300, you get your picture taken with the candidate. And free hot and sour soup.
Ish @ 64
not to mention all the hot air.
Boston1775 @ 36
Paul Levy has made a major contribution to Beth Israel in bringing innovative IT solutions for a more efficient and profitable hospital. The High Tech Industry has offered solutions to the medical profession in so many areas such as logistical operations and healthcare quality, however, it is a hard area to bring about change. I have no doubt he met with some resistance here and had to persuade in order to overcome comfortable old habits. From the profit margin results, he did, to his credit.
Ask any hospital and they will tell you Patient Care is central to their mission. Everything revolves around patient care. That means CEOs in any healthcare sector has two responsibilities that cannot be separated because one affects the other. The CEO must have outstanding human relations with his staff. Even before profitability, his staff delivers the healthcare services that makes him look so good. Once he sets up a good IT department to handle logistics that results in good records and efficiency, he just maintains from that point forward. Human Relations are built every single day. Nurses are his partners.
In recent times company profitability was/is the primary focus in the business model. No matter your ideals; you don’t make money, you’re out of business. This element is in the healthcare industry only it must be partnered with human relations. They are a service industry. They serve humans. Humans in distress, may I add. The primary connection between the human in distress and the CEO is the Nurse and Doctor.
If I were CEO, those who deliver the healthcare I am offering, would be my primary focus. I want a damn good relationship with these people. My suggestion to Paul Levy is that he is an advocate for his nurses. As to the letter he put out, well, he knows the sharks are circling around him.
one more!
Biden will join Dodd’s filibuster
Elliott @ 67
just warn him off the ethnic and gender faux pas he’s so prone to…
Here is Levy’s view of unionization:
I can just see Levy sitting down to discuss his own contract: “Hmmmm, how will all this money they are paying me affect research programs at Beth Israel? How will my severance affect my employee’s chances for personal and professional development?” No. He exploited his personal contacts and his history to extract the most favorable contract he could.
The only issue in union elections is what is good for employees. Unions are leverage. Levy may be a wonderful human, and the gift of the Almighty to hospital management, but any nurse who would trust Levy to look after his or her interests instead of the interests of management is making a big mistake.
Blogs aren’t for, among other things, emotional support? Not sure I can agree with that.
egregious @ 70
Agree. I have received support from multitudes of pups.
I have to wonder about why a hospital would pay for their employees to attend anti-union propaganda: are they so afraid of dealing with their employees as equals that they need the imbalanced labor market to instill fear; or are they simply wasting the workers’ time and the patients’ money? Anti-union propaganda should be seen as an omen of terrible conditions that a union would expose.
Massachusetts registered nurses have a union called the Massachusetts Nurses Association.
They are working hard to pass legislation which comes up on October 24th. It is H.2059 which is working to limit the number of patients each nurse can have. MNA President, Beth Piknick writes:
In addition to our new look, we have a new and vitally important opportunity to finally pass legislation to regulate RN staffing levels in our state’s acute care hospitals. As this month’s cover story indicates, Oct. 24 is a key date in this process, as this is the date for the first public hearing for H.2059—our landmark bill to set a safe limit on the number of patients a nurse can be assigned at one time. The bill would also ban the practice of mandatory overtime and provide a variety of important recruitment initiatives to address the long term supply of nurses.
The need for this bill was given strong support last month when the DPH issued a report showing that as many as 2,000 patients a year die needlessly in our hospitals from hospital-acquired infections. The associated costs for these infections total more than $400 million annually.
In the months prior to the release of this report, two studies were published that made a direct link between RN staffing ratios and these types of infections. In fact, there have been no less than five studies published in the last seven months that validate nurses’ positions on this issue, which adds to the 25 other studies that have been published in the last five years.
The evidence is unequivocal and overwhelming: safe patient limits save lives, save millions of dollars in hospital costs and are the key to recruiting/retaining the nurses to meet the needs of hospital patients. Our case has been made. Last year we passed this bill in the House, and it would have passed in the Senate if it had been brought to a vote by the then Senate president.
Now we have more evidence, and a new opportunity, to push this bill on towards passage. To date, 107 organizations have signed onto the bill. Our support in the House of Representatives is stronger than it was last time around. We have a new Senate president and our support in the Senate is growing. We also have a sympathetic governor who is in support of this measure.
But our first step in this process is to get this bill out of the Public Health Committee, and that requires a strong showing of nurses at the State House on Oct. 24, as well as phone calls and e-mail messages to legislators from every nurse.
To contact your legislator quickly and easily, visit http://www.capwiz.com/massnurses. The campaign for this bill is gaining strength and with your help we will achieve victory.
You will notice that between pages 8 and 9 of this issue of the Massachusetts Nurse Advocate is a bumper sticker that promotes the campaign. We hope that each of you will take the time to put this bumper sticker on your vehicle, as it will become a powerful and visible symbol for the nurses’ campaign throughout the commonwealth.
Finally, I wanted to call your attention to Page 29 of this publication, which features a call for participation by nurses in a research study about the MNA and our recent experience in going through disaffiliation from the American Nurses Association. Barry Adams, a doctoral candidate at Brandeis University, is conducting an important study of this issue and its impact. We invite nurses who are interested to check out the ad and to participate in this study.
What you will get with the passage of H.2059
Among other things, the safe staffing bill will:Have the state’s DPH develop and implement limits on the number of hospital patients assigned to RNs.
* Reduce errors caused by fatigue and overwork by prohibiting mandatory overtime.
* Prevent RNs from floating without proper orientation.
* Stop hospitals from assigning unlicensed workers to perform care that demands licensed nursing expertise. Only nurses should provide nursing care.
* Protect against the reduction of other members of the health-care team including LPNs, aides and technicians.
* Instruct DPH to account for ancillary staff in the development of the staffing limits and the standardized acuity system.
###
SEIU has come into Boston from New York seeking to increase members in its union. SEIU will cover everyone from janitors, clerical, cafeteria workers, nurses aides and registered nurses.
See this Boston Globe article about the battle between the unions. The Globe article:
But labor experts said the SEIU made itself a target through its aggressive attempts to increase its presence in the Boston healthcare industry. Last year, the union said it wanted to organize all healthcare workers at Boston teaching hospitals, including nurses, most of whom have traditionally been represented by the Massachusetts Nurses Association.
“This gauntlet thrown down by the SEIU is having an effect on other unions in healthcare,” said Jeffrey Toner , a labor consultant at Dietz Associates , in Kennebunk, Maine.
At the July 13 election, authorized by the Boston office of the National Labor Relations Board, 1199 SEIU nurses can vote to keep their current representation, join the Massachusetts Nurses Association (which already represents 600 of the 1,500 registered nurses at Boston Medical Center), or withdraw from union representation altogether.
The association’s takeover attempt would disrupt a relatively peaceful coexistence between two unions at Boston Medical Center that began 10 years ago when the hospital was formed through the merger of Boston University Medical Center and Boston City Hospital. The hospital, led by chief executive Elaine Ullian , is not siding with either union.
In this Boston Globe article, Paul Levy points out the way SEIU has sought to organize workers:
“The key is to pick a topic that garners a headline and public concern, like provision of care to poor people,” Levy wrote. “It is also helpful to pick an arcane accounting issue that few understand, so that a cogent and concise rebuttal by the hospital is virtually impossible in the regular media.”
The union said the hospital lowered by 30 percent the figures it had reported for un-reimbursed charity care in 2005, without providing an explanation for the change.
“BIDMC’s financial reporting with respect to charity care may deny board members necessary information to evaluate the extent of the hospital’s charitable activity,” Fadel wrote in the July 26 letter sent to trustees with the union’s report.
Levy said his colleagues at the hospital are wondering whether SEIU is preparing for a union drive at Beth Israel.
“Or is it sending a message to other hospitals in the city that it will attack anybody who has the nerve to speak out against its tactics?” he said they are asking.
Posted by Elizabeth Cooney at 06:27 PM
—————————-
On August 25, 2006, Paul Levey wrote this in his blog entitled Running a hospital:
“On the union front, you may recall that I wrote last fall to inform you that the Service Employees International Union had announced plans to organize workers in the Boston hospitals. They appear to be interested in BIDMC. During the last months and weeks, the SEIU has submitted Freedom of Information Act requests about several of our researchers and research projects funded by the NIH; has submitted an FOIA request at Mass HEFA, the state agency that issues our bonds; and most recently has been conducting telephone surveys of our some of our employees. Some of you may have received these calls. These activities are entirely legal, although you might wonder, as we do, what relevance our peer-reviewed research has to a union organizing process.
In other situations, the SEIU has attempted to get hospitals to agree to bypass or modify the normal union organizing procedure envisioned under the National Labor Relations Act. A normal unionization process consists of getting authorization cards from 30% of the members of a future bargaining unit, followed by a secret ballot election of that group of workers, under federal rules and monitored by the National Labor Relations Board. Each employee, unencumbered by peer pressure or other outside forces, gets to vote “yes” or “no” in the sanctity of a private voting place.
Instead, in some cases the SEIU has pushed for a “card check” system, in which the election process is bypassed once 50% of the workers sign authorization cards, and the management of the hospital agrees to not talk about unionization – a process called “neutrality”. In some other instances, the union has agreed to an election, but with the same one-sided “neutrality” terms during collection of signatures and the voting.
My belief is that a topic as important as unionization deserves a free exchange of views. If the management of the hospital agrees to a “neutrality” agreement that limits our ability to discuss the pro’s and con’s of the issue, that would be at variance with the history and culture of this academic medical center, a tradition steeped in open dialogue and exchange of views.
Let me say again: We believe in free elections in which each employee, unencumbered by peer pressure or other outside forces, gets to vote “yes” or “no” in the sanctity of a private voting place. Thus, we cannot agree to a “neutrality” agreement nor to a system that bypasses the federal NLRB election processs.
In other parts of the country, hospitals that have taken similar positions to ours have found themselves subject to massive public relations attack by unions. The object of these attacks seems to be to denigrate the reputation of the hospitals and to put pressure on volunteer boards of trustees and management to agree to the unions’ organizing terms.
We hope and trust that the SEIU will not use these tactics in Boston. It is hard for us to imagine that a union that says that it is dedicated to improving the healthcare system would intentionally undermine public confidence in one of the world’s best hospitals. But this has happened elsewhere, so we must be prepared for that eventuality. We will hold fast to our principles and would participate in a union organizing process based on the rules and regulations set forth in federal law, a process designed to protect the rights of all parties. We have too much respect for our employees to bargain away your rights to a free and fair election. We trust the people who work here, and we would respect your judgment should an election be authorized. You earn that trust every day by the way you take care of patients, participate in research, train medical professionals and one another, and support a wide variety of community activities.
In closing, if any of you have concerns or questions about any of these matters, please contact me directly, or your Human Resources representative, or your supervisor.”
I would welcome your thoughts about what I have said in both of these notes.
The Massachusetts Nursing Association and the SEIU have worked together with the AFL-CIO in this case.
The Latest Developments in the Massachusetts Nursing Environment
MNA and SEIU Local 767 Sign Pact of Aid and Support
Prepare for Organizing Push in Southeastern Mass.
In a show of union solidarity and cooperation, the Massachusetts Nurses Association (MNA) and the Hospital Workers Union, Local 767 SEIU, AFL-CIO have entered into an “agreement of mutual aid and support in the collective bargaining process, organizing, the legislative/political arena, and other health care policy forums.”
Local 767 of SEIU represents 3,600 health care workers in seven hospitals, 10 nursing homes and a number of home health agencies throughout Southeastern Massachusetts the Cape and Islands, including workers at Good Samaritan Medical Center, Cape Cod Hospital, Falmouth Hospital, Jordan Hospital and Tobey Hospital. The local’s members include nurses’ aides, technicians, clerical workers, health care professionals and other support personnel.
The Massachusetts Nurses Association represents more than 19,000 registered nurses and health care professionals working in 85 health care facilities statewide, including a number of hospitals, VNAs and public health departments on the South Shore, including Good Samaritan Medical Center, Jordan Hospital, Tobey Hospital, Cape Cod and Falmouth Hospital.
“This agreement signals a real commitment by those of us who organize health workers to combine our efforts and share resources to step up organizing and enhance the power of unionized health care workers in this regions of the state,” said Karen Higgins, a nurse at Boston Medical Center and chair of the MNA Cabinet for Labor Relations, who helped forge this alliance.
Here is a discussion Paul Levy generated on his blog that caused a long list of comments.
He asked: Do I get paid too much?
Sunday, January 28, 2007
Do I get paid too much?
Every year, the Boston Globe publishes a story listing the total compensation received by the CEOs of the major Boston hospitals. The story is derived from the Forms 990 that are filed by every non-profit, and the numbers are interesting enough that the story always gets good placement in the newspaper.
CEOs do not set their own salaries. Each hospital has a public board of trustees who determine the compensation for their chief executives and who also hold that CEO accountable for running the organization. The levels of compensation are subject to review by the Internal Revenue Service to ensure that they are within reason for that organization and compared to other organizations, and also to ensure that the board itself, rather than the CEO, has made the compensation decision.
Notwithstanding this level of legal guidance, the issue often arises as to whether hospital CEO salaries are out of line. Americans are often ambivalent about high salaries for corporate executives: They often complain about them, but, at the same, time, everybody hopes that he or she can someday earn them! Putting aside that personal sociological observation, let me ask you the question directly: Do you think I earn too much?
Here are the facts. As noted by the Globe, my total compensation was about $1 million in fiscal 2005. Of this, $650,000 was the base salary. Also, I was eligible for a 30% incentive compensation payment if the hospital achieved specified results for clinical quality, patient satisfaction, and financial performance. I received the full amount that year, $195,000. The rest of the million comprised payments made by BIDMC for life insurance and retirement. (Don’t worry, there are no other perks, like cars or country club memberships!)
Now, some background on BIDMC: The hospital is a billion-dollar-a-year enterprise, about $800 million in clinical revenues and $200 million in research programs. Our annual capital budget is roughly in the range of $80 million. Last year, we raised $30 million in philanthropic donations from people in the community. We have facilities that cover about 3 million square feet. We see 50,000 emergency room visitors per year, 40,000 inpatients, and 500,000 outpatients. We have about 8,000 employees and about 800 doctors on staff. We are affiliated with six community health centers (one of which we own); several community hospitals and physician practices; and we own and run two off-site clinics in Chelsea and Lexington and one small community hospital in Needham…
————
A nurse in the hospital replied:
Anonymous said…
Why do we go to work everyday? What is our professional objective? What makes us tick…
Compensation
Whether financial, emotional, or social – there is a catalyst in all of us. It is clear that Paul’s financial compensation may be higher than average person’s, but I would guess that he is fairly compensated for his work in the other areas as well.
In Paul’s case he lives in the microcosm of Beth Israel where he cultivates his staff and reaches for greatness. His blog reflects his train of thought as he manages his team. Feedback is welcomed and discussions are always honest but not always easy. Paul’s message to his hospital is clear…dare to be different…dare to be a leader…dare to make a difference.
As a RN at his hospital I know I am part of an organization that is saving lives, healing the sick and making a difference. I don’t feel threatened by our CEO’s salary. I feel grateful that I am part of an organization that enables me to practice nursing gracefully.
I am not sure that other leaders, who I assume would be making the same, would offer the same gifts to Beth Israel.
I walked into work the other day and a harp was playing in our lobby. I read in the Globe that my hospital is sharing its central line infection rates with the public. I drive by the Fenway and see that my hospital is the official sponsor of the Red Sox. I jump online and see that our CEO is not only sharing how much he makes with us, but also asking what we think.
I believe that I am part of something special that is going on in healthcare. So does Paul make too much? Financially, some may say yes. However, I would have to argue that his leadership creates a climate at our hospital that is worth more than a million. When seen through this lense; he is responsible to each employee and patient. In reference to the tally of staff/hosptials/patients on his post, there are roughly 700,000 people under the umbrella of Paul’s leadership. That is less than 1.50$ per staff/patient a year!
When people feel that something “special” is happening at BID, part of it has to do with the leadership. Would I pay $1.50 a year towards my CEO’s salary? Of course! It is a lot less then the 100$ ticket I will pay to watch Big Papi his one over the green monster.
Q&A with Paul Levy: Can Healthcare support a democratic form of communication?
Hi Mod: Do you know if Jane has accessed the information I’ve left in comments 73 through 78?
Before I say anything, I would like her to have the option of writing more about Beth Israel, Paul Levy, his decision to blog, and the quality of healthcare at Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital.
Hi Boston,
I am not privy to what Ms. Hamsher has, or has not, read today. I do know that she frequently returns to old threads to read the comments.
Boston 1775 — don’t take it personally. It is always exceptionally irritating when someone drags nasty gray shadings of factual nuance into nice clean cases of right vs. wrong; good vs. bad. Especially to those accustomed to hearing their every utterance celebrated as divine revelation.
Jane,
I just got back from errands and was shocked by the way you spoke to me on the thread upstairs about Blackwater. I asked the question of the moderator because I wanted to make sure that I was being fair to you.
I have no idea how things work behind the scenes and I thought that I would put information up about Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital and Paul Levy which might give a more complete picture than you painted.
I am completely at a loss in understanding why you are annoyed with my work to give a fuller picture of the situation in a hospital with which I am familiar.
I thought that after finding out that there is already a union which Massachusetts nurses are part of, and that there is an extremely important bill they are sponsoring on October 24th, you might rethink your position.
I also thought that giving more exposure to what Paul Levy has done through blogging was a good thing. He is an extremely approachable CEO, open to ideas from his staff. He has brought Beth Israel, a non-profit hospital, through a bleak time.
I am completely puzzled by your irritation, especially when you feel so comfortable offering him your advice.