Crozer approves strike vote, informational picketting June 2

allnurses Guide · Jun 4, 2014

Hospitals are trying to shift patients who need to be in the hospital out of the hospital.

I'm glad Crozer staff is letting the public know.

Here is just one of many other attempts to do this:

Manteca to Kaiser: Restore hospital services

Read about this and other trends on pages 12 & 13:

http://nnumagazine.uberflip.com/i/280201

Home Health Columnist / Guide · Jun 5, 2014

Delco Times

6/4/24

Hundreds of Crozer nurses rally for staffing changes

By Kathleen Carey, Delaware County Daily Times

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UPLAND-....

Representatives from the health system and the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals, the parent union advocating on behalf of the 600 Crozer-Chester nurses, have been negotiating for about seven weeks. Last month, the union approved a strike authorization vote, although any action requires a 10-day notice. The contract expires Sunday, but union officials have indicated they would work past that deadline.
Union officials said staffing and safety are their main issues. They also have concerns regarding pension and health care. Crozer-Keystone outlined its financial struggles as pivotal and said its staffing levels are at or above standard.
esday.
Bobbi McClay, president of the Crozer-Chester Nurses Association, said the number of nurses has decreased from 800 to 565.
"We've said to them we need staff," she said. "I know the census is down, but we don't have enough people to care for the patients."
It said the average salary for a full-time Crozer nurse is about $103,000.
McClay said the union wants two things from the hospital.
"We want an acuity system to care for our patients," she said. "(And) we've asked for just culture so that when errors are made, we are treated the way we should be treated, not punitively."
Acuity is a staffing ratio based on patients' severity, not on the number of patients needing care. Just culture is a system of addressing medical errors based on open communication and shared accountability, which involves open reporting, searching for causes and transparency....
...The Crozer-Keystone statement did not address these issues, but did highlight the system's financial situation.
"We are hoping that the union would work cooperatively with us to help address the very real financial challenges faced by Crozer, which like hospitals and health care systems across the country, is facing declines in reimbursements and inpatient volumes."
In February, the system announced it was eliminating 250 employees after losing almost $16 million in seven months. ( Crozer-Keystone Health System lays off 250 employees )
In addition, Moody's Investors Service has also downgraded the system's debt and its bond rating went from Baa3 to Ba2....

Crozer RN's have an online petition to support their position

Interesting that Crozer Hospital set up its OWN RESPONSE website "to offer an expanded view of their perspective".

This will be a tough fight.

Chisca, RN · Jun 5, 2014

From the company website:

" In several cases the Union has misrepresented our position, and has drawn a false comparison with executive compensation meant to inflame its members rather than promote a fair settlement."

When the CEO isn't willing take a paycut in light of the hospitals financial losses you have to wonder how serious, even from a PR standpoint, they are in negotiating. Bad faith indeed. It won't help those nurses now but I do think that is why safe staffing has to be part of law rather than a contract negotiating point. The hospital may be using the current financial difficulties to settle a score with the union. Provoke a strike, a little bad publicity about "abandoned"

patients and voila, no more union. Or so they may think.

allnurses Guide · Jun 5, 2014

I think the Crozer nurses and other health professionals are strong advocates for their patients and profession.

They will not give up their union.

Their picket is Informational, not a strike.

We had an informational picket that got no media attention. when management gave their "Last, best, and final offer" we took a strike vote.

Their staffing offer would not even include staffing regulations.

The day we set a date and issued a press release they came back to negotiations. We settled a better contract

I pray the Crozer patients and staff improve their staffing so they can provide the care their patients need.

Safe staffing is actually cost effective.

Nurse staffing is proven to prevent death due to "Failure to Rescue" and readmission within 30 days for CHF, MI, and pneumonia. Thise decrease how much a hospital is reimbursed for these patients care.

Hospital Nursing and 30-Day Readmissions Among Medicare Patients With Heart Failure, Acute Myocardial Infarction, and Pneumonia - Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

Home Health Columnist / Guide · Jun 13, 2014

Word on the street is hospital attempting to break union...

Crozer, nurses at odds over pension payments

Philly.com

June 11, 2014By Harold Brubaker, Inquirer Staff Writer

Crozer-Keystone Health System's badly underfunded pension plan is a key issue in negotiations on a new labor contract for 600 nurses at Crozer-Chester Medical Center.
The Delaware County health system wants to freeze the benefits in the defined-benefit pension plan and replace it with a defined-contribution plan, said Bill Cruice, executive director of the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals, which represents the Crozer-Chester nurses.
The Crozer pension plan, which had just $330 million in assets to cover $549 million in obligations on June 30, 2013, is already closed to new hires, both union and nonunion.
Its deficit - $219 million at the end of fiscal 2013 - "remains outsized relative to system resources," Moody's Investors Service said last month, when it downgraded Crozer's debt.
In the course of negotiations last week, Cruice requested pension documents and found an amendment to the plan that doubled the rate at which certain executives earn pension benefits.
For example, the amendment boosted the annual pension for a 25-year executive with an annual salary of $300,000 to $144,009 from $99,525, Cruice said.
In a statement Monday, Crozer said the pension formula for executives that alarmed Cruice had been in effect since 1998.
Cruice was not mollified. He mockingly offered management's position: "We've had a pension that's double everybody else's since 1998, not since 2012," when the amendment Cruice found appeared to take effect.
Crozer officials also said there were caps in place for the number of years of service executives are allowed to accumulate. That's not the case for rank-and-file employees, they added.
When it downgraded Crozer, Moody's cited the importance of winning concessions from the nurses union at Crozer-Chester.

xoemmylouox, ASN, RN · Jun 26, 2014

What a financial disaster. I'm glad they are standing up for themselves and for their patients. I wish them all of the luck in the world. I wish dearly we had more unions in my area..

chuckster, ADN, BSN, RN, EMT-B · Jul 4, 2014

I wish the Crozer nurses all the best. I know from firsthand experience that the hospital is woefully understaffed and has been for a good number of years.

It's also unfortunate that CKHS has turned to reducing (and ultimately, probably eliminating) pensions as the first target to reduce cost. In that, they are simply following the trend of modern US business though. Many folks are not aware that defined contribution plans (401k's) were never designed to replace pensions (defined benefit plans). They are much less expensive and far less risky for employers however, which is why most employers in the country offer only a 401 plan rather than a pension. Another dirty little secret about 401k's is that they are immensely profitable for the banks and other financial institutions involved. Most 401k plans force workers to invest their retirement savings primarily in mutual funds, many of which charge more than 1% of your investment. Those fees are on top of other administrative fees that workers also pay. While the totals are typically relatively small perhaps .6% to 1.5%, and may not sound like much, they reduce your return significantly over the long term. Small wonder then that mutual funds are strong supporters of defined contribution plans. If employers really cared about their workers, they would at least offer the option to use ETF's - Exchange Traded Funds - rather than mutuals. ETF's have much lower costs and usually offer better rates of return than do mutual funds. But I digress.

As someone noted in another comment, CKHS seems to be looking to reduce the power of the nurses union. With the glut of underemployed RN's in the area, they may unfortunately be able to largely accomplish this. I wish the Crozer nurses luck but frankly believe that they are unlikely to prevail and CKHS will probably have their way.

Home Health Columnist / Guide · Sep 12, 2014

Delco Times, Sept. 11th, 2014:

Crozer-Chester nurses to strike Sunday Sept 21st-23rd

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Phila. Business Journal

Crozer-Chester nurses authorize two-day strike, but hospital vows to continue operations

Chisca, RN · Oct 2, 2014

Thanks for the update. Those of us working in the wilderness appreciate news from the front.

Home Health Columnist / Guide · Oct 11, 2014

Delco Times News Reports

US Rep. Brady huddles with nurses at Crozer in push to end work stoppage

Officially, the nurses strike ended at 7 a.m. Tuesday, but when Crozer-Keystone Health System officials hired staff from U.S. Nursing Corp. they were required to guarantee five days of work for the temporary nurses. Hospital officials have said they plan to honor that arrangement.
The nurses and hospital management were negotiating again Tuesday.
Brady, D-1, of Philadelphia, said he received a call from Bill Cruice, executive director of the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals, asking Brady to get involved.
“I’ll do whatever they ask me to do,” Brady said. “I don’t jump in unless they ask me. You don’t want to come in like a grandstander. I got called by the union rep (Tuesday) night. I’m going to meet with him (today).”
Brady was instrumental in helping end a 28-day Temple University Hospital nurses’ strike in 2010.
“Hopefully, I can fix it. It’s a problem,” Brady said of the Crozer situation. “What happens 99.9 percent of the time ... it becomes personal. They don’t want to give into that person now. What I can do is cut that out. They’re going to have to settle sooner or later.

10/7/14

Crozer-Chester nurses file unfair labor practice for helicopter landings during strike rally

Representatives of unionized Crozer-Chester Medical Center nurses filed an unfair labor practice against the hospital’s administration, officials said Tuesday, alleging they attempted to stifle union members’ free speech with a helicopter during a strike rally last month.
In the second day of the strike on Sept. 22, hundreds of Crozer nurses held a rally in front of the Upland facility as a JeffSTAT helicopter landed three times at the nearby hospital helipad.
“We believe that the Crozer administration deliberately scheduled these so-called ‘practice landings’ in order to intimidate the Crozer nurses and their supporters,” Bill Cruice, executive director of the nurses’ parent union, the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals, said. “Their childish efforts failed. If anything, such displays make us stronger.”

10/10/14:

Crozer nurses and hospital continue to negotiate

...In the first negotation session since the Crozer-Chester Medical Center nurses returned to work after a week on the picket line last month, hospital administration presented a proposal to the union this week that removes pay cuts but that union officials say is essentially unchanged from previous offers....
Bill Cruice, PASNAP executive director, decried this latest proposal.
“We were very disappointed in Crozer’s proposal on Wednesday,” he said. “Their proposal contains no improvements in staffing.”
Cruice said despite the nurses’ request, hospital officials have declined to post what staffing standards are in each unit so that a minimum standard is understood.
“They have said repeatedly they won’t do that and we’re just puzzled as to why they don’t want to do that,” he said.
In addition, he said this proposal cuts the pay of the weekend program participants by a maximum of $3 an hour, compresses the wage scale and freezes wages for some employees for five years....
...Given the financial stability of Crozer, this kind of proposal is unwarranted,” Cruice said.
According to the CrozerBargainingFacts website, the administration’s proposal is a five-year propsoal that drops pay cuts that could have saved the system almost $14 million over the contract’s term.
Those above a new scale would have their incomes remain the same and would receive a 2 percent lump sum bonus in 2017 and 2018. Those in the new scale would receive yearly increases to their step rates starting in 2015.
Administration would delay freezing the pension plan until June 2015 and retirement plan contributions would be offered on either age or seniority.
The weekend hourly rate would be $54.15 for days and $59.18 for nights and if the weekend program were to be eliminated, nurses would maintain notice, bumping rights and severance....

Home Health Columnist / Guide · Oct 26, 2014

Philadelphia Business Journal:

Oct 22, 2014

Crozer-Keystone Health System exploring merger

Financially struggling Crozer-Keystone Health System said Wednesday that it's exploring whether it should seek a merger.

The Delaware County health system is the parent company for five hospitals- Crozer-Chester Medical Center, Delaware County Memorial Hospital, Taylor Hospital, Springfield Hospital and Community Hospital. It's also the parent company of a large network of primary-care and specialty physicians practices and outpatient-care centers...

...Crozer-Keystone Chairman Bruce Fischer said the heath system's board is working with health-care consulting firm Kaufman, Hall & Associates to "take a careful, deliberate approach to ensuring that Crozer-Keystone Health System remains prepared for the future."