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Forum to Discuss Plans to Close Kaiser Pediatric Unit

The community forum will be held at 6 p.m. at the Eden Mansion at 2451 W. Tennyson Road in Hayward. A community forum will be held tonight to discuss plans by Kaiser Permanente to close its pediatric unit in Hayward next month. The California Nurses Association, which opposes Kaiser's planned Nov. 17 closure, says the unit serves more than 1,000 families a year and more than 100,000 children in the Hayward area who receive health care from Kaiser.

San Leandro Patch
October 25, 2013

Resisting the Empire: Four Days in Chicago

Resisting the Empire: Four Days in Chicago: A film by Haskell Wexler, ­­­­Andy Davis and Mike Gray (2013). Available for $15 from http://www.fourdaysinchicago.com. Mayor 1% (Rahm Emanuel) invited the G-8 (the Group of 8 most economically powerful countries in the world) and NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) to meet in Chicago in May 2012. Needless to say, this did not go over well with Chicago activists—and a whole lot more other people.

ZNET Communications
October 24, 2013

ALEC Convention Met With Protests in Chicago

A coalition of labor, community and environmental groups from throughout the Midwest will gather to protest the group’s three-day conference throughout the week, with organizers expecting the largest actions against ALEC since the group first drew attention in 2011 for its role in providing model legislation written by corporations pushing a broad right-wing, pro-corporate agenda.

The Nation
October 24, 2013

Thousands get health insurance cancellation notices

Kaiser Permanente in California has sent health insurance cancellation notices to 160,000 people – about half of its individual business in the state. Consumer advocates say such cancellations raise concerns that companies may be targeting their most costly enrollees. They may be “doing this as an opportunity to push their populations into the exchange and purge their systems” of policyholders they no longer want, said Jerry Flanagan, an attorney with the advocacy group Consumer Watchdog in California.

NBC News
October 24, 2013

BJC Healthcare to reduce health benefits for part-timers, employees say

St. Louis, MO--BJC Healthcare, the largest St. Louis employer, is preparing to cut health insurance benefits for some of its part-time employees. According to two part-time nurses with the BJC system, managers and Human Resources representatives recently began informing certain employees that those who do not work at least 24 hours per week will be ineligible for health benefits.

St. Louis Post-Dispatch
October 24, 2013

Hayward: Kaiser to close pediatric hospital unit Nov. 17

HAYWARD -- KAISER PERMANENTE ANNOUNCED WEDNESDAY IT WILL CLOSE ITS PEDIATRIC HOSPITAL UNIT ON NOV. 17 AND SHIFT YOUNG PATIENTS TO OAKLAND. Although Kaiser Permanente says those patients will get better care in Oakland, the move is opposed by nurses, who say it will create a hardship for parents.

Inside Bay Area
October 23, 2013

Lawsuit against BJC HealthCare alleges wage violations

Missouri--A proposed class action lawsuit has been filed against BJC HealthCare on behalf of a nurse who accuses the nonprofit health system of improperly calculating employees’ overtime hours and meal breaks.

St. Louis Post-Dispatch
October 23, 2013

San Leandro Hospital ownership to transfer at end of October

SAN LEANDRO -- Ownership of beleaguered San Leandro Hospital transfers to Alameda Health System at the end of the month, the latest development in a lengthy fight by local officials to keep the struggling hospital open. "I'm really excited, because the emergency room and other acute-care services will remain open," said Alameda County Supervisor Wilma Chan, who brokered the deal between Alameda Health System, an independent operator of county health facilities, and Sutter Health, which owns the 93-bed hospital. "We've been working on this for a long, long time."

The Daily Review
October 18, 2013

CNA wins new contract for 200 RNs at San Leandro Hospital once it transfers to Alameda Health System

The California Nurses Association, which is on a contract roll recently, has won the first contract for 200 RNs at San Leandro Hospital under new owner Alameda Health System. The San Leandro acute-care facility, the subject of years of debate and conflict, has been part of Sutter Health for a number of years, but shifts to Alameda Health System's growing network at month-end.

San Francisco Business Times
October 16, 2013

Maine Health Care Advocates Press for 'Medicare for All'

Before Saiyid Brent stopped in for a free basic health screening in Portland Monday night, his thoughts were on dinner - specifically, comfort food. But that changed after he was examined by a nurse. His prognosis? "Not so well!" he says, with a laugh. "My blood sugar was pretty good, but blood pressure not so great, which is a concern."

Maine Public Broadcasting Network
October 16, 2013