News

Sanity on 'malpractice reform'--from Florida, of all places

"Tort reform"--read that as "shutting the courthouse door to malpractice victims"--again is rearing its ugly head as a means to reduce healthcare costs, most recently as a plank in the recent GOP healthcare proposals.

Los Angeles Times

March 20, 2014

Carson City Council Voting to Place an Immediate Moratorium On all New Oil and Gas Drilling

Nurses join others, including Food & Water Watch, in Carson where the city council is voting tonight on a temporary ban on oil drilling following fracking concerns.

California Nurses Association

March 19, 2014

Re: “Fallbrook Healthcare District seeks to financially assist hospital”

As registered nurses and Fallbrook Healthcare District residents, red flags went up for us when we read last week’s Village News. How can this be? For those who may not know, our little community hospital is operated by the largest for-profit corporation in America – Community Health Systems (CHS), which made $265 million in profits in 2013, according to Fortune magazine. It seems the healthcare district has already spent some of our money on a consultant’s report and held months of closed-door meetings leading up to the article.

Fallbrok Bonsall Village News

March 18, 2014

Nebraska Nurse Concerned About Health Impact of Keystone XL

I am a Nebraska citizen from Holt County. I have been speaking out against KXL since my first editorial in April 2009. I drink water from the aquifer, 52 feet down, absolutely pure, no treatment or filtration needed. The first route would have been 2 miles to the west of our private well and I was terrified. I called the EPA and an environmental scientist told me he would be concerned also. My concerns were confirmed when I heard Dr Goeke, a UNL water specialist (who now the pipeline proponents quote as having no concern to the water) testify at a NE legislative hearing Dec 1, 2010 that contaminants could migrate up to 2 miles in our groundwater!

Cindy Myers, RN

March 17, 2014

Marin General nurses petition administration to address patient care concerns

Nurses at Marin General Hospital are demanding action to resolve what they say are potentially dangerous patient care issues at the county's largest hospital. Ten nurses voiced their concerns at Tuesday night's meeting of the Marin Healthcare District board. The district board oversees Marin General; but a separate board deals with the hospital's day-to-day operations. Ninety nurses have signed a petition calling on the hospital to respond to a detailed list of issues affecting patient care. The nurses say many of the problems stem from inadequate staffing and continued difficulties utilizing the hospital's new computerized physician order entry system.

Marin Independent Journal

March 12, 2014

Understaffing, Failure to Provide Adequate Care

SAFE STAFFING VERDICT: Arlene Townsend, 63 suffered a stroke and required 24-hour care. She was admitted to Auburndale Oaks Healthcare Center, a nursing home owned by Trans Healthcare, Inc. In the three years leading up to her death, Townsend suffered numerous fall resulting in broken bones and lacerations, infections, significant weight loss, chronic constipation, skin breakdowns, dehydration, and other problems.

Trial Magazine

March 11, 2014

The Truth About Tar Sands

I recently had the pleasure of attending one of the most important press briefings that has happened in a long time: Senator Barbara Boxer-Keystone Pipeline and the Threat to Human Health. The briefing took place at the Dirksen Senate Building and featured Senator Boxer (D-CA), Senator Whitehouse (D-RI), health experts, and community leaders dealing with this issue firsthand from around the country and Canada. The main message of this briefing was that people need to know the truth about tar sands and its effects on people’s health.

Denée Reaves’s Blog

February 28, 2014

District One Hospital holds community meetings to discuss Allina deal in Faribault

Nearly 50 people gathered at Faribault City Hall Wednesday night to learn more about District One Hospital's pending merger with Allina Health. During his presentation, Pribyl reviewed District One's dismal financial status while also showcasing how the hospital is trying to turn itself around by slashing the budget, improving technology and, most notably, merging with Allina. Wednesday's meeting was the second forum held with the public. Pribyl and members of the hospital's Board of Directors also hosted a meeting with Rice County elected officials and have gone to service club meetings like Rotary Club and the Knights of Columbus to discuss the same topics.

Faribault Daily News

February 21, 2014

Profits Over Patients

Much is wrong with the process of pricing and providing health care in America. The National Nurses United, the largest nurses organization, recently released a study that shows the top 100 most expensive U.S. Hospitals have a charge-to-cost ratio of 765 percent and higher. The worst offender in Ohio is right here in Summit County – Summa Barberton at a mind-numbing 654 percent. It is followed in fourth place by Summa Western Reserve at a whopping 577 percent. What has become obvious is the health-care establishment here and across the country is more concerned with profits than patients.

OpEd in the Akron Beacon Journal Online

February 21, 2014

Labor Leaders React to Volkswagen Loss; Some Express Frustration with Democrats

National Nurses United executive director RoseAann DeMoro, whose union has organized 7,000 nurses in southern states like Texas and Florida in the past three years, asked why Democratic politicians did not forcefully challenge Corker, who threatened that unionization would destroy jobs, and the right. “Why aren’t Democrats 100 percent for labor?” she asked. “Where are our allies? Who’s standing with us visibly, forcibly? Democrats know the value of organized labor. They might say it sometime.”

In These Times

February 21, 2014