News

More NNU Nurses Answer Call to Help Haitian Quake Survivors

Another contingent of National Nurses United (NNU) nurse volunteers is on its way to Haiti to help provide much needed medical care to the earthquake survivors. The 10 RNs are part of NNU’s RN Response Network (RNRN).

AFL-CIO

November 22, 2010

Pro-single-payer doctors: Health bill leaves 23 million uninsured - A false promise of reform

As much as we would like to join the celebration of the House's passage of the health bill last night, in good conscience we cannot. We take no comfort in seeing aspirin dispensed for the treatment of cancer. Instead of eliminating the root of the problem - the profit-driven, private health insurance industry - this costly new legislation will enrich and further entrench these firms. The bill would require millions of Americans to buy private insurers' defective products, and turn over to them vast amounts of public money.

Physicians for a National Health Program

November 22, 2010

Chico nurse works on hospital ship off Haiti

Two weeks off Haiti aboard a Navy hospital ship left Darrell Daugherty, a nurse from Chico, with vivid memories and plenty of material for his diary. It was the chance of a lifetime to work aboard the USNS Comfort, Daugherty said in an interview this week. "I met great people. I thought they were doing a very good job."

Chico Enterprise Record

November 22, 2010

Health district looks to block closure of San Leandro Hospital

The Eden Township Healthcare District has filed a countersuit in Superior Court in a bid to invalidate Sutter Health's attempt to close San Leandro Hospital's emergency room. The countersuit, submitted Wednesday morning, states that a 2008 memorandum of understanding that allows Sutter to sell San Leandro Hospital is invalid because three directors on the board at the time had conflicts of interest because of incomes derived from Eden Medical Center. The directors were identified as Dr. Rajendra Ratnesar, Dr. Francisco Rico and George Bicshalaney.

November 22, 2010

UCI hospital out of compliance again

Federal regulators visiting UC Irvine Medical Center found two cases of immediate jeopardy - the most serious finding of potential danger to patients - during an inspection last week, according to a memo sent to hospital employees.

Orange County Register

November 22, 2010

Local nurse spends two weeks helping earthquake victims in Haiti

Lauren Aichele, operating room nurse at UCSF at Mount Zion, was one of three nurses chosen out of thousands of applicants to National Nurses United to help earthquake victims in Haiti. She stayed on the Navy’s medical ship, the USNS Comfort, for two weeks in February.

San Francisco Examiner

November 22, 2010

St. Johns Hospital on Trial

The federal agency that oversees labor law has ordered St. Johns Health Center, Santa Monica, to stand trial on charges that it has violated the rights of its registered nurses. The National Labor Relations Board is prosecuting the hospital for unlawful harassment of nurse leaders, engaging in illicit spying on RNs, and interrogating nurses about union activity, among other violations.

Santa Monica DIspatch

November 22, 2010

Modesto nurse volunteers in shattered nation of Haiti

As a veteran emergency and intensive care nurse, Marti Smith of Oakdale has cared for plenty of car crash victims and other people with severely broken bones. During her 10 days of serving on a hospital ship caring for victims of the Haiti earthquake, she wasn't struck by the severity of the injuries, but by the sheer number of Haitian people with severe trauma.

Modesto Bee

November 22, 2010

Single payer, here we come

For more than 7 million working Californians who currently don't have health insurance, Congress and President Barack Obama's attempt to reform health care has been an exercise in frustration. The public option was almost immediately taken off the table, despite the fact that most independent experts agree reform won't work without it, and after a year of negotiations, no bill is in sight.

Sacramento News and Review

November 22, 2010

Health Reform Lessons from Massachusetts, Part X

Four years ago, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts enacted a far-reaching health reform law that politicians and the media hailed as a model for other states and the federal government. That law has become the blueprint for health system change on a national scale, and its advocates have aggressively marketed a variation of the Massachusetts plan that has passed the Senate and House of Representatives. This is the tenth in an occasional series of posts that will continue to explore how well the Massachusetts law is working with an eye toward helping the press and the public understand its flashpoints. The entire series is archived here.

Columbia Journalism Review

November 22, 2010