RNangelER

Very well said -jt. I couldn't have said it better myself!

Thanks Gldngrl for your support! I will try to update the board often. You may visit our website at http://www.smcph.org It is updated almost daily! This is the most recent update. We are suppose to be up and running per the court. Tenet has been holding admitted patients in the ER for days. In turn, keeping the ER on divert status. Yesterday, Tenet's attorneys were caught lying to the judge about this fact with a letter that they wrote the Philadelphia Regional EMS Director. I have attached a copy of Tenet's letter. Of course, Tenet is blaming it on the nurses! It is difficult to read. . . . sorry! http://www.smcph.org/images/Diversion_Status.pdf http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/business/7731107.htm

Ouch! All that negativity hurts. But it does not bring down my will OR spirit to fight a corporate monster. . . . Call me stupid, I like to say optimistic. If Tenet closes MCP so be it. At least we will be able to look back and say we tried! If they sell MCP, I will be the happiest girl in the world! As I know many others will be! We cannot just sit on our butts and watch Tenet close our hospital. We have to at least try! The community this hospital serves needs this 153 year old institution. http://www.smcph.org/pages/7/index.htm (History of MCP) Five years ago, after Allegheny went bankrupt, there were other buyers for this pod of hospitals. The government did decided to let Tenet buy and gave them a 5 year tax break. This 5 years is now over. Along with some other hospitals that served poor communities that Tenet has already closed, they now want to shut the doors of healthcare to this community. Tenet will not stop at MCP. Graduate Hospital will probably be next. If not, my next bet will be Warminster Hospital. Their patient population is the elderly. How much money is Tenet making off of government insurance in a hospital that does not offer money making special services? In the five years that Tenet owned MCP they have raped the "Old Lady" down to nothing! They took away every clinic and every service we offered. Including OB/GYN, Peds, Ortho, ect. They even sent the Cardiac Cath department to Hahnemann Hospital. http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/business/7664951.htm As far as the government stopping for-profit organizations from buying health care facilities, that will probably never end. I can only imagine how much Tenet and other such corporations contribute to campaign funds! We have a Gamma Knife for Brain Surgeries and da Vinci Robotics. Is the Gamma Knife in use? NO. We have one of the Top brain surgeon's in the area at MCP along with many other highly qualified doctors in other specialties. Our nurses and support staff are also top notch. Many have served MCP for years and offer knowledgeable and quality care. Has Tenet advertised and marketed this info to MCP's benefit? No again. I have only seen advertisements on their website. http://www.mcphospital.com/CWSContent/mcphospital/ourServices/medicalServices/Gamma+Knife+Radiosurgery.htm http://www.mcphospital.com/CWSContent/mcphospital You probably know more about Sen. Spector then I. I just live here. Does he know anything about healthcare economics? I do not have the answer. But it is a re-election year, why not use that to the COMMUNITY'S advantage. If he wants to help us, the more people on our side the better especially if they have political ties. I do believe he would like to see MCP sold vs. closed. I do believe Gov. Randell (who grew up in this community) also would like to see MCP stay open. Also, I would suspect that Sen. Spector and Gov. Randell knows what ramifacations other hospitals in the area along with patients would suffer if MCP was to close. http://www.senate.gov/~specter/index.cfm?FuseAction=Issues.Home&Issue_id=23 Tenet officials have admitted themselves, MCP services mostly the under- and un-insured. "Schaengold said MCP's "fatal flaw" was that it was a community hospital with many uninsured patients that could not support an expensive medical teaching facility." http://www.zurichna.com/sm/screamin.nsf/0/2EA07A4A687488DE85256E01003A1AB5?opendocument&ChangeMenu=No It would be impossible to make a profit without offering other services that are money making to balance out the spread sheet. So why rape a hospital of these other services and why not market what it CAN offer? I firmly believe a for-profit organization has no business in healthcare! I also believe that with Tenet's history of illegal practices, they especially should not be allowed to offer healthcare to the public. In the future, I will think twice about working for a for-profit healthcare organization. But until then, I will continue to work at MCP to help in the fight to keep it open. This community needs MCP Hospital to receive adequate and timely healthcare. Without it many people will die. Thank you for your good wishes! http://members.aol.com/unionrnofmcp/Brownworth.htm http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Logannews/message/1024 http://www.smcph.org

I sure did! I am glad to hear you are on our side. Thanks for your support! www.smcph.org

I for one can stay TENET is already breaking this order. I worked Friday night in the ER 7pm-7am. There was 2 ER Full time staff nurses, one retired nurse (who chooses to work 1x a month), one Tele nurse, no clerk in the whole house, no Pharmacy after 11pm and no transport. With this staff, we held in the ER 2 ICU patients, 6 Tele Patients all while FR continued brining in more patients and others found their own way in from the bitter cold. Below is a link to the new court order http://www.smcph.org/images/order.pdf A great article http://members.aol.com/unionrnofmcp/Brownworth.htm To see more articles about TENET, MCP Hospital, and details on how to Save MCP, please click below. http://www.smcph.org/pages/1/index.htm

Channel 6 video of 1/8/04 Court Order http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/news/video/010804_video_mcp.html AP Wire Tenet's rescue efforts fall short in Philadelphia http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/business/7664951.htm Judge Oks Temporary Agreement to Keep MCP Hospital Open Look at the Pictures! NO US Flag on our Hospital. Tenet took it down http://www.kyw1060.com/news_story_detail.cfm?newsitemid=34467 Group Says MCP Hospital Violated Agreement http://kyw.com/siteSearch/local_story_008093928.html Court fight to keep MCP open delayed until Feb.19 http://www.philly.com/mld/dailynews/news/local/7667864.htm Further barriers on MCP closing http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/business/7666133.htm Please Check the web site that is dedicated to Save Medical College of Pennsylvania Hospital from TENETS evilness! Visit the site often as it is updated everyday! http://www.smcph.org

Fighting to keep MCP open!!!! Please view the links below. http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/news/video/12302003_video_mcplawsuit.html http://kywimg.dayport.com/htm/kyw3player.htm?Art_ID=3937

Hi everyone! We have started a coalition of Doctors, Nurses, EMS, Legislators, Political leaders, the community, and other workers at MCP. Please visit our website for more information and to watch our progress in our new battle against Tenet. Save Medical College of Pennsylvania Hospital Coalition. http://www.smcph.org Scis: If you want to find out information on Tenet all you have to do it type in Tenet Healthcare in a search browser and you will find more than enough info. Lots of illegal and evil doings.

Hi everyone! We have started a coalition of Doctors, Nurses, EMS, Legislators, Political leaders, the community, and other workers at MCP. Please visit our website for more information and to watch our progress in our new battle against Tenet. Save Medical College of Pennsylvania Hospital Coalition. http://www.smcph.org

Hi everyone! We have started a coalition of Doctors, Nurses, EMS, Legislators, Political leaders, the community, and other workers at MCP. Please visit our website for more information and to watch our progress in our new battle against Tenet. Save Medical College of Pennsylvania Hospital Coalition. http://www.smcph.org

I hope you get this before hand. I didn't realize I wrote 5:50pm but it is at 5:30pm. Thank you for your support! We will see you there! :)

We do not get much PR unfortunately. However, today was a good day. A few nurses were interviewed on one of our FM stations, 103.9. And we even made the paper today! Here is a link to our Biggest Newspaper in Philly from today! WooHoo! http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/news/columnists/tom_ferrick/7430645.htm I also wanted to thank everyone for their support. You guys are great! We appreciate all the letters and emails to us and the PR people here in Philly. If anyone is in the Philadelphia area, on December 10 @ 5:30 PM, we are having a Rally (candlelight vigil). It will be the eve of our 1 month anniversary. We are attempting to get other nurses and the community involved. We will be outside of Medical College of Pennsylvania Hospital also known as MCP. 3300 Henry Avenue Philadelpha, PA 19136. Thanks again everyone!

Great articles -jt. Thanks! :kiss

Thanks again for all the support you guys! You are great! Just to update everyone. . . . We are standing stong even in this snow! Dressing in layers and using hand and toe warmers help alot. We are braving this cold weather and standing our ground. On December 10th @ 5:50pm we are having a one month Rally (candlelight vigil). We are trying to get other nurses to come along with the community. So if you are in the area, stop by. We will be at Medical College of Pennsylvania Hospital also known at MCP. The hospital is located at 3300 Henry Ave Philadelphia, PA 19129. Take Care Everyone! Angel

Sorry but I am still on the new grad making $78,000/year obgrn, I am not disagreeing with you that nurses in Philly earn more than some areas around the country. But to state that new grads make $78,000/year? When your post is read, it seems like you would want one to believe that this is a true fact. In your attempts to taint this BB against MCP nurses and Unions, I believe once again you are going to fail as you have not succeeded in dividing your co-workers. As you know, Tenet at MCP does not offer a $20,000 sign on bonus and never has. I have never seen a bonus that large in the years that I have been here. The largest I seen was $3,000. The original statement you made was new grads here in Philly make $78,000/year. Please refer to your old contract. *After one year, Tenet was to put an end to Mandation. They did not. *Double time was entered into the contract (by the union) in attempts to curb Tenet from abusing involuntary mandation. (No longer in contract) *Bonus time was entered into the contract (by the union) for the nurse that wished to sign up and be voluntarily mandated for holes in the schedule. (No longer in contract) Even with these financial benefits that a nurse would receive, many still refused. As it should be their right to refuse. As you know, Mandation still ran ramped at MCP and many faced disciplinary actions including 3 day suspensions. If and when this contract is ratified, what is mandation going to be like at MCP if it is not removed? Especially, now that they do not have a financial burden? There are 60-75 open RN positions. Probably more now that many nurses have talked about resigning. Like myself and many others have said before, Tenet needs to invest in recruitment and retention vs. using mandation as a means of staffing. I presume it is cheaper for the "FOR Profit" giants to pay mandated nurses time and a half than hire more nurses and pay for more employee benefits. On Tenets own employee website, they state the facts. For the Eastern Division of Hospitals, in the third quarter, MCP was ranked 58 out of 59 for RN Vacancy Rate. Here is the link. Click on it, enter your employee ID and pass code and see for yourself. https://secure.etenet.com/PublicSite/default.asp?URL=/dashboard/ If not please feel free to look at the print out in the RV across from the picket line as they are posted on the board. But, to get back to the new grad earning $78,000/year. . . The last page of your old contract contains the hourly wage according to the amount of years one has been a nurse. A new grad in the old contract made $23.38/hour. As you know, most nurses work 3/12 shifts. So when calculated: $23.38 X 36 hours $841.68 week X 52 weeks $43,767.36 year BEFORE taxes and other deductions. That is a $34,232.64 difference from your $78,000 These are calculations based on the old contract with the financial benefits, of the extra hours a new grad would have to work to earn $78,000 BEFORE taxes. This is including if a nurses was receiving time and a half after 72 hours of a pay period. And you know we were not. At MCP, a new grad would have to work an extra 976 hours or an extra 81 12 hour shifts at Time and a half. He/she would have to be Involuntarily Mandated to work an extra 732 hours or an extra 61 12 hour shifts at Double time. (DT is no longer offered at MCP) He/she would have to work a Voluntary extra 569 hours or an extra 47 12 hour shift at Bonus time PLUS time and a half. (Bonus is also no longer offered at MCP) Now keep in mind obgrn, if you meant AFTER taxes these hours of work will increase greatly. On to the weekender that made $39/hour and made $100,000. $39 X24 hours $48,672 yearly BEFORE taxes That is a $51,328 difference. Stay with me everyone. I am almost done! A weekender would have to work an extra 877 hours or an extra 73 12 hour shifts at time and a half He/she would have to be Involuntarily Mandated to work an extra 658 hours or an extra 54 12 hour shifts at Double time. He/she would have to work a Voluntary extra 614 hours or an extra 51 12 hour shifts of Bonus PLUS time and a half. Not that it cannot be done but boy is that dedication! Whew! Now that everyone on this BB including myself has a headache! God Bless the New Grad! Oh, don't let me forget that weekender too! I am proud that our new grads/weekenders have all this energy and dedication to devote to our profession. I hope all of you invest and spend this money wisely. Oh, and please tell me you all had a decent pair of shoes to run around in. If not I am sure the tread is now gone. Congratulations on having 614 - 1000 hours of extra time to take advantage of Tenet a corporate monster!!! :balloons: obgrn, as said before by your co-workers at MCP, if you wish to cross the picket line, just cross. No one is stopping you. But PLEASE, do not attempt to break our spirits and crush our morale in the meantime. You will fail, as we are all strong and united in fighting our cause to stop mandatory overtime. And if you have not noticed, the members of this BB are also strong, united and support the nurses at MCP as they also want an end to mandatory overtime around this country. Sorry about this post everyone!

obgrn you did not answer the question "You are correct that it is hard work, and our nurses here in Philly are doing quite a bit better financially than you all in Wyoming. We have new grads making 72-78,000/year." Please tell us! Like I said before I am not a new grad and I have never made close to this amount. I am a full time employee here in Philly!?

obgrn please tell me which hospital in Philly these new grads are making this kind of money! I am not a new grad nor have I ever seen that amount of money working here in Philly. Just curious!

Sorry to hear that you feel that way XtREmeRN. You must be one the few at MCP that mandation does not effect. And if for some reason it does, I cannot imagine someone not rejoicing that a strong group of professionals took a stand and refused an offer to be forced to work at least 24x a year and only being able to refuse 3x. And WON! As said many times on this forum, mandation is not safe for our patients, our license, our health, or our families. It is not safe no matter what limits or provisions the second biggest healthcare corporation puts on it. Yes, this is a victory! At this time, it is a small victory. A small victory for our patients, the nurses at MCP and all around the country. The real victory will be when mandation is illegal! If you did not know there are 3 bills in the federal government that hopefully will be passed. And there are 5 bills in front of the Pennsylvania government. Law makers realize the risks involved and so should TENET! TENET needs to realize the solutions to the shortage of Nurses at MCP is not mandation. It is recruitment and retention. How many nurses walking in to Human Resources do you think would be willing to take a job at MCP knowing they could be mandated 24x a year and can only refuse 3x. Not many! At the time of our strike there were anywhere from 60-75 RN positions available. If this contract was ratified there would have been more, due to many of your co-workers would have resigned. There is joy in striking! I have made so many new friends. People that worked in the same building with me for the past years that I never met. These relationships are now strong bonds that will never be broken. We enjoy sharing our thoughts and feelings whether they be happy or sad. There is joy in knowing we are one step closer to winning this battle. There is joy in seeing how courageous we can be. There is joy in seeing that people really do have "empathy and care" and they do not just want to accept a contract to get back in for the $$$. Yes, many of us are out of work for the holidays but that is by choice. They are more than enough jobs in Philadelphia, the suburbs, and New Jersey to go around. Many are working and also doing their part for the strike and at the picket line. All it takes is a little motivation to look for a job in the meantime. I will say that it is sad that TENET chooses to keep their census at 44 patients (as it was most of last week). As it would have been if the contract was ratified. Many nurses will not go back to MCP under such a horrific contract. Therefore, other employees will still be getting laid off and their hours cut. I do not think one nurse on strike is not thinking about the effects this is having on other employees. And of course we are all sadden by this. You bet, we should be rejoicing. We just had another little win over a Corporate Giant. I am not ashamed of myself. I am PROUD. Proud to be a nurse at MCP on strike. Proud of everyone's hard work and efforts. Proud to be part of a fight in a just cause!

Sorry to hear that you feel that way XtREmeRN. You must be one the few at MCP that mandation does not effect. And if for some reason it does, I cannot imagine someone not rejoicing that a strong group of professionals took a stand and refused an offer to be forced to work at least 24x a year and only being able to refuse 3x. And WON! As said many times on this forum, mandation is not safe for our patients, our license, our health, or our families. It is not safe no matter what limits or provisions the second biggest healthcare corporation puts on it. Yes, this is a victory! At this time, it is a small victory. A small victory for our patients, the nurses at MCP and all around the country. The real victory will be when mandation is illegal! If you did not know there are 3 bills in the federal government that hopefully will be passed. And there are 5 bills in front of the Pennsylvania government. Law makers realize the risks involved and so should TENET! TENET needs to realize the solutions to the shortage of Nurses at MCP is not mandation. It is recruitment and retention. How many nurses walking in to Human Resources do you think would be willing to take a job at MCP knowing they could be mandated 24x a year and can only refuse 3x. Not many! At the time of our strike there were anywhere from 60-75 RN positions available. If this contract was ratified there would have been more, due to many of your co-workers would have resigned. There is joy in striking! I have made so many new friends. People that worked in the same building with me for the past years that I never met. These relationships are now strong bonds that will never be broken. We enjoy sharing our thoughts and feelings whether they be happy or sad. There is joy in knowing we are one step closer to winning this battle. There is joy in seeing how courageous we can be. There is joy in seeing that people really do have "empathy and care" and they do not just want to accept a contract to get back in for the $$$. Yes, many of us are out of work for the holidays but that is by choice. They are more than enough jobs in Philadelphia, the suburbs, and New Jersey to go around. Many are working and also doing their part for the strike and at the picket line. All it takes is a little motivation to look for a job in the meantime. I will say that it is sad that TENET chooses to keep their census at 44 patients (as it was most of last week). As it would have been if the contract was ratified. Many nurses will not go back to MCP under such a horrific contract. Therefore, other employees will still be getting laid off and their hours cut. I do not think one nurse on strike is not thinking about the effects this is having on other employees. And of course we are all sadden by this. You bet, we should be rejoicing. We just had another little win over a Corporate Giant. I am not ashamed of myself. I am PROUD. Proud to be a nurse at MCP on strike. Proud of everyone's hard work and efforts. Proud to be part of a fight in a just cause!

Hi everyone! I just wanted to update you guys. The nurses here in Philly(MCP Hospital) voted today on TENETS "best and final offer" It was rejected by the nurses! TENETS offer about mandation was the first year we could be mandated 2x a month. When figured out the contract would be . . . We get mandated 24x with only 3 refusals. The second year 1x a month. So 12x a year with only 2 refusals. Management was spreading around the hospital that we would accept this offer and the nurses will be returning soon! Boy would I have loved to have been a fly on the wall when they heard we rejected it. We will keep all of you posted. Thanks everyone for their support and good wishes.

I didn't post #19 but I will try to answer the question Ohioln. TENET does not ASK us to stay. . . . . They tell us we are MANDATED! The Union nurses are paid hourly. Alot of us work 12 hours shifts. So, if we were to be mandated we would have worked 16 hours for straight time pay. In the old contract we were allowed to refuse up to six times then the next nurse on the list would be mandated and so on with the last person not being able to refuse. According to the contract that TENET has offered, we can be mandated with an hour and 45 minute notice. On top of the safety issues of being exhausted and errors occuring, what about family obligations. TENET (at MCP hospital) has 75 RN openings at the time of our stike. We would be mandated a heck of alot. We are attempting to get mandation completely strickend from our contract. I hope this answered your question Ohioln Take care

Hey Everyone, WE (MCP nurses) had our big Rally and today everyone is meeting at the table. Keep your fingers crossed and say your prayers for us. The rally turn out was excellent. We had many other Unions also out their fighting for our cause. We even seen Rich Freeman's face (CEO of MCP) behind the Hospital gate for a brief moment until he ran back into the hospital to hide!! Below is a link for the follow up story from Ronnie Polaneczky in The Philadelphia Daily News http://www.philly.com/mld/dailynews/7344078.htm I am also attaching some links to our local news and video clips that I found this AM. I don't think the links will work for too long due to the news being updated daily. http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/news/11252003_nw_nursestrike.html Click here: WPVI.com: http://kyw.com/news/local_story_328174640.html Click here: CBS 3 Video Viewer http://www.philly.com/mld/dailynews/7344078.htm If anyone finds more please send them. Thanks!:kiss

Thank you so much Hellllllo for that wonderful letter! We (the striking nurses in Philly) have an email list with all our names on it. I hope you don't mind but I have forwarded your letter to the main person who does the emailing. Letters of supports, especially from other nurses keep us strong and united in our fight for this cause. Thanks again! Angel:kiss

I am also a nurse at MCP. Yes, the EPPI nurses are part of our union and also on strike. There are scab nurses crossing the picket line making BIG $$$. They are nurses from other states that don't care about this community. We have been on strike since 11/11 and it feels like 10 years already. We are outside 24/7 fighting for our cause in rain, cold and heavy wind. Safer Staffing levels and no mandation issues are our main fight. It is not easy to work 12 hours and barely get a pee break and to come to find out at the end of your 12 hour shift you have to stay another 4 hours. Then to return 10 hours later for your next shift. (They let you come in 2 hours late. . . how nice of them!!) It is not safe! It is getting to the point that I feel like I walk in the hospital at 7pm. . . hand them my license and hope at 7am I get it back. Tenet would also like to be able to cancel our shift at their will and we inturn take our vacation time! I could go on with the list of problems with this contract. To answer someone elses question, Tenet did take away our health insurance. It is easy for people to say just walk away and get another job after all nursing jobs are a dime a dozen. However, many of us care about our patients and the community we serve. This is not just a fight for nurses it is also a fight for our patients. I am proud to say I AM A NURSE AT MCP ON STIKE! I am proud of my fellow co-workers. We are Stong and United.