Newswise — For the third time in six months the California Nurses Association is threatening to order its members to abandon their patients and take to the picket line. This latest threatened work stoppage could last up to ten days.
"It's disappointing that the union seems more concerned with confrontation than reaching agreement on a new contract," says Martin Brotman, M.D., President and CEO of California Pacific Medical Center. "We are happy to meet with the union anytime they want, but right now the union seems more intent on walking a picket line than sitting down with us and resolving our differences."
"I chose to work at this hospital for a reason," says Carol Rich RN, a staff nurse at California Pacific's Pacific campus, where none of the nurses belong to C.N.A. "I came here because of its high standards of patient care and safety. If C.N.A.'s claims about patient safety and staffing levels were true I would be lining up to join the union, but I'm not. I think it speaks highly that this hospital goes out of its way to meet every state mandate and staff ratio requirement. I'm proud to be part of this team."
California Pacific employs around 2,000 nurses, and fewer than 800 of those are members of C.N.A. The other 1,200 have chosen not to join the union, despite frequent attempts by C.N.A. to recruit them.
Damian Augustyn, M.D., Chief of Staff at CPMC says the Medical Executive Staff are unanimous in their support for the hospital and a swift resolution to the contract dispute. "If we felt the actions of the hospital were jeopardizing the safety of our patients we would be the first to speak up," says Augustyn. "We feel that CPMC's record of safety and quality is second to none."
In this latest round of contract talks California Pacific has offered its nurses a 21.5 percent pay increase over the next four years (25.5 percent for nurses at St. Luke's, to bring them up to the same level as our other C.N.A. members) which means the average nurse would earn around $140,000 a year. That is in addition to free health care coverage for nurses and their families, and generous retirement benefits. We are also offering nurses something they identified as one of their top concerns, landmark language on shift cancellation.
The union claims this is not about economics but about patient safety and inadequate staffing. But consider these facts:"¢ CPMC is one of the top 33 hospitals in the nation, as determined by the Leapfrog Group, an independent organization measuring hospital quality and safety. "¢ California law has very specific nurse-to-patient staffing ratios, dictating how many nurses we need to have per patient. We obey the law. "¢ In patient satisfaction surveys we have a 95% rating "¢ In physician satisfaction surveys we have a 99% rating. "¢ CNA's own internal documents show that it has signed agreements with 96 other private health care providers in California, and none of those contracts contains language requiring a prescribed number of designated break and meal relief nurses on each shift. Yet it is demanding that of us and other Sutter Health facilities.
California Pacific Medical Center. Beyond Medicine.At San Francisco's California Pacific Medical Center, we believe in the power of medicine. We research the most up-to-date treatments, hire the most qualified individuals, and practice the most modern, innovative medicine available. We deliver the highest quality expert care, with kindness and compassion, in acute, post-acute and outpatient services, as well as preventive and complementary medicine. But we also believe that medicine alone is only part of the solution. That's why we look intently at each individual case and treat the whole person, not just the illness. It's why we go beyond medical care and provide our patients with things like disease counseling, family support and wellness treatments. As one of California's largest private, community-based, not-for-profit, teaching medical centers, and a Sutter Health affiliate, we are able to reach deep into our community to provide education, screening and financial support in some of the city's most underserved neighborhoods. Because medicine can transform a body. But going beyond medicine can transform a life. http://www.cpmc.org
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