Three-Year Pact: Hospital agrees to savings program toward health deductibles. Rebecca Madden, Watertown Daily Times, August 1, 2010 Carthage - New York State Nurses Association members at the hospital here have reached a tentative agreement for a new three-year contract, just four days before their current one would expire. The 53 nurses at Carthage Area Hospital last week won their fight to keep low-cost health insurance, according to Annie M. Rutsky, labor relations representative for the association. ... Carthage

Journal News, July 29, 2010 Nyack - Following months of negotiations, nurses at Nyack Hospital on Thursday voted to ratify a three-year contract with hospital administrators, said Colleen Royston, a registered nurse at Nyack Hospital and union representative for the New York State Nurses Association. Nurses at the hospital had been working without a contract since their previous agreement ended December 31. Royston said the deal is retroactive to January and will run through the end of 2012. Royston said salaries for nurses will increase by 9.1 percent over the life of the contract. ... Nyack

Demonstration held to put pressure on Ellis Medicine administration. Cathleen F. Crowley, Albany Times Union, July 8, 2010 Schenectady - Nurses from Ellis Medicine demonstrated Wednesday in front of the Nott Street hospital, saying the administration is not meeting their demands for a new contract. For the first time, nurses from the former Saint Clare's Hospital participated in the informational picketing and are part of the bargaining unit. After the hospitals merged in 2008, nurses from the Saint Clare's campus voted to join New York State Nurses Association, the union that represents Ellis nurses. ... Nurses

WXXA, July 7, 2010 Registered nurses at Ellis Hospital are protesting contract negotiations. On Nott Street Wednesday the protesters representing the New York State Nurses Association say their in negotiations over their contracts. Their most recent four-year contract was supposed to expire last February but was extended to June 21 - an additional extension hasn't been negotiated. “Wages is one thing, said one protester, “A lot of us they don't want to give raises for the next four years. I can't imagine that the cost of living is going to stay the same in the next four years.” Nurses also say the protest is for patients care as well. ... Ellis

ABS-CBN News, May 28, 2010 The former workers of Sentosa healthcare who won a civil case on Monday are asking more nurses to come forward. A judge ruled that it was illegal for the former workers to pay Sentosa to terminate their contract. Officials of the National Alliance of Filipino Concerns (NAFCON) are looking for health workers who paid Sentosa $25,000 to be released from their contracts. ... More

Alaina Potrikus, Syracuse Post-Standard, May 24, 2010 Madison County leaders considering outsourcing the services of its home health care agency were met with outcry from employees who serve more than 200 patients countywide. More than 30 nurses and county workers voiced their concerns at a picket Monday afternoon, marching on both sides of North Court Street in Wampsville carrying signs that read “Supervisors might need home care someday” and “Public health care is not for sale.” They carried their signs into a meeting of the county’s public health committee, where supervisors unanimously voted to solicit proposals from private entities ... Madison

Caitlin Traynor, Oneida Daily Dispatch, May 24, 2010 Wampsville - “Taxpayers’ illness is not a business for sale.” That was the message Madison County home health workers sent elected officials at the public health service committee meeting Monday. With dozens of signs, home health care workers packed into the supervisors chambers to express concern over the county’s intention to look into privatizing their work. Committee Chairman and Brookfield Supervisor John Salka said he was encouraged by the turn-out, naming the proposal a high-impact issue to Madison County residents. ... Madison

Judy S. Gonzalez, RN, Labor Notes, May 14, 2010 Several hundred nurses assembled on May 11 for a spirited, colorful protest in front of Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx. The rally coincided with Nurses Week, an annual celebration that runs from May 6 to May 12, Florence Nightingale's birthday. The RNs were protesting the hospital's hard-line approach to negotiations for its 2,600 RNs, whose contract expired in January 2009. The Medical Empire, the Bronx's largest employer, with lucrative real estate holdings, continues to make money while most health facilities are in the red. ... New

Tanyanika Samuels, New York Daily News, May 12, 2010 More than 100 nurses from Montefiore Medical Center rallied Monday against staffing problems and possible cuts to their healthcare benefits. "Montefiore is the most profitable hospital in New York State," said Patricia DeLillo, a registered nurse who took part in the demonstration. "How can they justify asking for benefit cuts and refusing to address staffing improvements they agreed to?" Carrying signs reading "They Say Cut Back, We Say Fight Back" and "Fair Contract Now," the nurses marched in front of the hospital ... Montefiore

Anemona Hartocollis, New York Times, May 1, 2010 It was a requiem not just for a hospital, but also for a vanishing part of Greenwich Village history - for an institution that tended to countless skinned knees and heart attacks, as well as once-in-a-lifetime disasters from the sinking of the Titanic to the toppling of the World Trade Center. Over the last few weeks and months, as Saint Vincent’s Hospital Manhattan teetered into bankruptcy, many of its 3,500 employees were laid off. But about 1,500 of them returned to the red brick hospital building on West 12th Street on Friday for one last time, to say goodbye. ... Staff

Hospital Cuts Hit Health-Care Workers
Closure of Saint Vincent's, Budget Reductions, Have Workers Scrambling for New Jobs.
State Warns That More are Possible.
Suzanne Sataline, Wall Street Journal, April 29, 2010

With one hospital closing and others slashing budgets, the city's healthcare-job marketplace could get crowded in the coming days, and some employees fear they could be facing a long spell without work.

More than 3,500 employees will have lost their jobs when Saint Vincent's Hospital in Manhattan effectively closes on Friday, weeks after filing for bankruptcy when deals to merge with other hospital systems fell apart. As of March, the city's hospitals employed nearly 162,000 people.

Rebecca Spitz, NY1, April 13, 2010 Saint Vincent's Hospital is making plans to terminate thousands of employees as the hospital prepares to shut down its inpatient services. The hospital's human resources department sent an official termination notice to all employees Monday, reading in part: "This letter is to inform you that Saint Vincent Catholic Medical Centers will conduct employee separations ... As a result, your position is being eliminated ... This action is expected to be permanent." The notices are required by state law, although hospital officials say individual jobs will end based upon the needs of the 160-year-old hospital. ... Saint

Fred Mogul, WNYC, April 13, 2010 New York - Saint Vincent's Medical Center today submitted its formal closure plan to state health authorities. Outside the Greenwich Village hospital, about 200 nurses and doctors, and a few community members, protested, but it's not clear what recourse they have. Dr. William Mandel was one of several employees who wished more locals had shown up. "People are healthy, and they don’t think about what could potentially happen to them," Madel says. "They don’t understand what it’s like to lose a major medical facility in their neighborhood." Dr. Frederick Siegal, the former head of the hospital's HIV-AIDS program, says it's not clear which institutions ... Doctors

Linda Schmidt, myfoxny.com, April 13, 2010 Doctors and nurses broke their silence about the planned closing of Saint Vincent's Hospital Manhattan. They want to keep the spotlight on the situation and say they will continue to fight to keep the hospital open. Some doctors and nurses at the hospital are wondering if the New York state health commissioner sabotaged a deal with Mount Sinai Hospital. That deal would've saved Saint Vincent's from closing down. "They were ready to deal a deal and then suddenly it falls apart," said Dr. David Kaufman, who adds that he is suspicious because nobody will talk to the staff about what happened. ... Doctors

Heather Grossmann, DNAinfo, April 13, 2010 Greenich Village - Doctors and nurses, many of whom received pink slips Monday, joined a community protest Tuesday against the planned closure of Saint Vincent’s Hospital, warning that it could lead to medical disasters. "Sixty thousand people have visited the emergency room last year," said Dr. David Kaufman MD, associate director of the HIV Comprehensive Care Unit. "These are not patients that could be appropriately or safely treated in a care center. Great place if you got a sore throat or a cut a finger, good luck if your heart muscle is dying or your lung muscle is suffocating ... " Saint