The California Nurses Association/National Nurses United (CNA/NNU) today called on California Attorney General Kamala Harris, the Federal Trade Commission, and other elected leaders and regulatory agencies to carefully review the proposed merger between Providence Health & Services and St. Joseph Health to assure patient protections and nurses’ rights are not infringed.

CNA, which represents nearly 90,000 California RNs, including thousands employed by the two big hospital chains, “has substantial concerns about the impact of the proposed merger of these two large hospital systems on patients, California taxpayers, RNs and other employees, and the affected communities,” said CNA Co-President Zenei Cortez, RN.
 
“We are opposed to any and all mergers that don’t guarantee our patients and the community we serve a higher standard of care,” Cortez said.  “This merger must ensure that all the hospitals remain open, and that all jobs and services are maintained.”
 
The proposed merger, announced late last month, would create one of the largest Catholic hospital systems in the U.S. Providence currently operates 34 hospitals and 500 clinics in Alaska, California, Montana, Oregon and Washington. St. Joseph Health (SJH) runs 16 hospitals in California, New Mexico, and Texas.
 
Together, the new system would have an especially large footprint in California, and a near monopoly in some regions—exactly why Harris should intervene, says CNA.
 
In conducting a full review, CNA is urging the Attorney General, FTC, and California lawmakers to assess the impact of the proposed merger on:

• Women’s reproductive health services in communities throughout California;
• The expansion of a near monopoly of hospital services in key markets in California;
• Negative impacts on cost and accessibility of healthcare services, as numerous studies have shown that hospital mergers often increase costs to patients while limiting access to care; and
• The potential for closures of hospitals and/or patient services, layoffs or outsourcing of skilled, experienced employees.

 
Until these and other issues of concern to RNs and patients are adequately addressed, CNA said it cannot support the proposed merger. 
 
“As nurses, we have many reservations about the proposed merger,” said Sharon Bryan, an RN at St. Joseph’s St. Mary’ Medical Center in Apple Valley.
 
“St. Joseph,” said Bryan, “has lost its moral compass, and we are witnessing a hospital system that once cared for its employees and patients evolve into a corporate entity motivated by profit.”
 
“One cannot help but wonder,” Bryan added, “whether the recent draconian cuts to RN benefits and working conditions have been part of a process in creating the conditions for a business merger. Before moving forward, St. Joseph needs to immediately return to a just, caring culture.”
 
In a research report being issued this week on St. Joseph, “Falling from Grace: St. Joseph Health RNs Raise Ethical and Patient Care Concerns,” CNA cites a number of areas that reflect what CNA calls “priorities of present day corporate management who increasingly value maximized profits at the expense of patients, RNs, taxpayers and SJH’s own stated principles.”
 
In particular, SJH and its hospitals, the report asserts, have:

• Reaped millions in tax subsidies from California taxpayers, while providing among the lowest amount of charity care of any Catholic system;
• Invested patient care and tax subsidized funds into for-profit companies, including hedge funds in the Cayman Islands;
• Launched a system-wide campaign to illegally restrict the rights of its RNs to organize a union to advocate for improved treatment of patients and RNs;
• Been charged with scores of violations of federal law in the past year as a result of their anti-union campaign against their RNs;
• Imposed sweeping cuts in disability, medical leave, and retirement security on thousands of SJH employees, while paying exorbitant executive salaries and benefits.

 
The full report is available at: SJHFallFromGrace.com