BlueMountain Must Protect Services, Employee Rights

In response to the announcement that the Daughters of Charity Health System has selected BlueMountain Capital Management as a buyer for its six hospital system, the California Nurses Association/National Nurses United today said it will press Blue Mountain and DCHS to keep open all the hospitals, retain current patient services, and honor the collective bargaining rights and current standards for DCHS employees.
 
CNA said it intends to meet with the prospective owners of the Daughters facilities soon to address core principles adopted by the nurses after DCHS indicated plans to sell its facilities. CNA represents some 1,800 RNs at DCHS hospitals.
 
Core principles defined by the nurses include:

·      Continued operation of the hospitals,
·      Maintaining existing patient services and not taking actions that put those services at risk,
·      Preserving existing jobs, collective bargaining rights and current labor standards, and
·      Upholding pension promises made to current and future retirees.

California Attorney General Kamala Harris must still approve the sale and it is expected that public hearings will be held.

“We encourage the Attorney General to conduct a rigorous review to assure preservation of hospital and patient care services for the largely underserved communities that have long depended on Daughters of Charity hospitals for the critical care they need,” said CNA Co-President Malinda Markowitz, RN.

Daughters of Charity RNs said they will closely monitor the transition process.

“We hope the Daughters have kept their commitment to the community we serve and it’s employees in selecting a buyer who will keep all our hospitals open as acute care facilities for the long term,” said Maria Canonizado, a registered nurse at O’Connor Hospital in San Jose. “BlueMountain must also continue to provide care to the underserved we currently serve.”
 
“As we go through the sale process for a second time, we urge the Attorney General to require they buyer to keep all our hospitals open in order to preserve the essential services we currently provide to our community,” said Jackye Gammage-Rogers, RN at St. Vincent Medical Center in downtown Los Angeles.
 
“BlueMountain should retain the thousands of healthcare workers who work at these hospitals, and honor all the collective bargaining agreements and pension obligations for the dedicated employees who have remained and struggled everyday to make healthcare available and accessible to our patients even during through this period of turmoil,” Canonizado said.
 
“I have been a nurse for 36 years and have personally served my community for the past 32 years and I am committed to continue to serve my community with the new buyer.  My expectation is for this new buyer will honor our contract and the pension obligations to retain the healthcare workers who have committed themselves to our community for all these years,” said Donna Fischer, RN at St. Louise Regional Hospital in Gilroy. 
 
“The painful uncertainty that Daughters of Charity patients, communities, and employees have been forced to confront for months is a reminder that we still have a broken healthcare system that continues to need fundamental reform,” said Markowitz. “Nurses will never stop working to build a truly humane system with guaranteed healthcare for everyone, as in an expanded Medicare for all.”