Urge Attorney General to Preserve Vital Services

At public hearings being held this week on the sale and transfer of six Daughters of Charity Hospitals, registered nurses will urge Attorney General Kamala Harris to include in any agreement governing the sale, a set of core principles that safeguard patient care and preserve vital services.
 
The nurses will testify at the hearings on behalf of the 1800 RNs that work at four of the six DOC facilities and are affiliated with the California Nurses Association/National Nurses United.

"Our patients and the community we serve need our hospital and it is the Attorney General's duty to ensure these our hospitals remain open in the long term. Any conditions placed on the transfer must include protections to services currently being provided to our community," said Bill McNamara, RN, Emergency Department, St. Louise Regional Hospital.

Nurses at the hospitals demand that the Attorney General require the following core principles in any transaction agreement:

1. Continued operation of the hospitals by maintaining existing patient services and not taking actions that would put those services and the community at risk,
2. Maintain safe staffing at all times – day shift, evening shift, night shift, and during meals and rest breaks,
3. Transparency and openness to nurses, frontline caregivers, and community,
4. Preserve all existing jobs,
5. Honor the collective bargaining rights and current labor standards,
6. Uphold pension promises made to current and future retirees,
7. Maintain a non- punitive work environment where RNs can advocate and care for our patients.

"The Attorney General must protect the hospitals' current labor standards and pension obligations in any transfer agreement. That will safeguard the hospitals' ability to recruit new nursing staff and retain the dedicated staff that has remained through this difficult process," said Maribel Licardo, RN, NICU, O'Connor Hospital

"As an ICU nurse at Seton Medical Center for the past 17 years I want to know that I will be able to care for my patients and community for many years to come. That's why the transfer agreement must include terms that protect the vital services our community needs and has relied on for so many years.  The Attorney General should also include conditions that preserve existing staff as we have lost many excellent nursing staff in the past year from the uncertainty of the sale," said Debra Amour, RN, ICU, Seton Medical Center.

Schedule for the Attorney General's public hearings

Wednesday, Oct. 14th:
St. Vincent Medical Center, beginning at 9:00 a.m.
Seton Hall Auditorium, 262 South Lake Street, Los Angeles, Ca.
St. Francis Medical Center, beginning at 1:00 p.m.
Bateman Hall Auditorium, 11331 Ernestine Ave., Lynwood, Ca.

Thursday, Oct. 15:
O’Connor Hospital, beginning at 9:00 a.m.
O'Connor Medical Office Building, 2101 Forrest Ave., San Jose, Ca.
Saint Louise Regional Hospital, beginning at 2:00 p.m.
Gilroy City Hall, Council Chambers, 7351 Rosanna St., Gilroy, Ca.

Friday, Oct. 16:
Seton Medical Center Coastside, beginning at 9:00 a.m.
Mavericks Event Center, 107 Broadway, Half Moon Bay, Ca.
Seton Medical Center, beginning at 1:00 p.m.,
Westlake Community Center - Pacelli Gym at Westlake Park,
145 Lake Merced Blvd., Daly City, Ca.