Healthcare workers are ramping up their criticisms of Partner HealthCare for closing the only hospital in the wealthy system’s network that directly serves a low-income community.
A new radio advertisement by the largest healthcare union in Massachusetts, 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East, warns that “the Partners scheme to make Lynn the largest city in our state without an emergency room is dangerous.”
“In healthcare, every second counts,” cautions the ad, which will begin airing on stations across the North Shore and Greater Boston on Thursday. “And when every second could be a matter of life and death, that’s when our communities need reliable, accessible, urgent care services.”
The current Partners plan to shutter NSMC-Union Hospital will put many Lynn residents miles further from the nearest emergency room.
Meanwhile, a scathing newspaper ad (attached) slated for publication in multiple area newspapers exposes what healthcare workers describe as the “Partners Plan to Close NSMC-Union Hospital”.
It lists ten intentional decisions by Partners executives that caregivers say have contributed to the hospital’s declines in revenue and patient volume. Among those decisions, healthcare workers cite the systematic removal of revenue-generating services from the NSMC-Union Hospital campus, major Partners investments aimed at expanding its operations to Saudi Arabia and China, and others.
“The proposed closure of NSMC-Union Hospital is another example of Partners running away from its responsibility to the community by embracing a corporate model that puts profits ahead of patients,” said Veronica Turner, Executive Vice President of 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East. “Enough is enough. The closure of NSMC-Union Hospital is not accidental and it is not merely a product of the changing market. The closure was engineered by Partners. It is time for Partners to own the fact they have amassed $7 billion in reserves while shamelessly attempting to rid themselves of low-income seniors and patients who don’t boost their bottom line.”
More than 20 percent of Lynn residents live below the poverty line, according to the 2010 U.S. Census.
“We hope that our state’s leaders will catch on to Partners’ disturbing agenda and fight back to keep Union Hospital open,” added Turner.
Turner sent a letter to new Partners CEO Dr. David Torchiana this summer outlining requests from healthcare workers who are seeking more information, accountability, and transparency from the ultra-wealthy hospital system regarding its plans for the hospital closure. Partners so far has failed to respond to that meeting request. Partners has also failed to respond to a request that they participate in a town hall-style meeting regarding the closure and a proposal to move forward with an independent study of the impact that the hospital’s closure could have on Lynn-area families.
Meanwhile, healthcare workers have created a Change.org petition to invite community members to join in the fight to keep Union Hospital open and restore revenue-generating services needed to make the hospital self-sustaining.
In the July 30 letter to Torchiana, 1199SEIU leaders called on Partners HealthCare to take substantive action to preserve hospital services in the city of Lynn. Healthcare workers have requested a meeting with Dr. Torchiana to discuss five different topics:
A firmer commitment to healthcare in Lynn, as the company’s pledge to maintain an emergency room in Lynn over the next “several years” is vague and could leave the city without lifesaving care for residents;A commitment to commission an independent study regarding the community health needs of Lynn and the impact that the proposed hospital closure would have on seniors and low-income children;A commitment by Partners to free and fair union elections in Salem and other NSMC-Partners facilities in light of the potential shifting of union jobs to the Salem campus;A request that Dr. Torchiana attend a town hall forum in Lynn to discuss the independent study as part of a commitment to transparency and accountability to city residents; andA commitment to reinvest the purported $18 million in consolidation savings to expand access to quality, affordable healthcare services and jobs in the city of Lynn, including through potential investments in the Lynn Community Health Center.
Partners, which had revenue of $11 billion in 2014, has spent the last two years removing vital services at Union Hospital. The healthcare giant is also the recipient of some of the richest reimbursement rates in the nation and has resisted repeated calls by local leadership and residents to preserve the hospital.
Check out the ads:
SoundCloud
Lynn Daily Item Ad
Stay up to date on the latest media coverage:
Boston Business Journal
Lynn Daily Item
- See more at: http://www.1199seiu.org/1199ers_blast_partners_plan_to_close_lynn_campus_of_north_shore_medical_center#sthash.KMII8vIQ.dpuf
A new radio advertisement by the largest healthcare union in Massachusetts, 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East, warns that “the Partners scheme to make Lynn the largest city in our state without an emergency room is dangerous.”
“In healthcare, every second counts,” cautions the ad, which will begin airing on stations across the North Shore and Greater Boston on Thursday. “And when every second could be a matter of life and death, that’s when our communities need reliable, accessible, urgent care services.”
The current Partners plan to shutter NSMC-Union Hospital will put many Lynn residents miles further from the nearest emergency room.
Meanwhile, a scathing newspaper ad (attached) slated for publication in multiple area newspapers exposes what healthcare workers describe as the “Partners Plan to Close NSMC-Union Hospital”.
It lists ten intentional decisions by Partners executives that caregivers say have contributed to the hospital’s declines in revenue and patient volume. Among those decisions, healthcare workers cite the systematic removal of revenue-generating services from the NSMC-Union Hospital campus, major Partners investments aimed at expanding its operations to Saudi Arabia and China, and others.
“The proposed closure of NSMC-Union Hospital is another example of Partners running away from its responsibility to the community by embracing a corporate model that puts profits ahead of patients,” said Veronica Turner, Executive Vice President of 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East. “Enough is enough. The closure of NSMC-Union Hospital is not accidental and it is not merely a product of the changing market. The closure was engineered by Partners. It is time for Partners to own the fact they have amassed $7 billion in reserves while shamelessly attempting to rid themselves of low-income seniors and patients who don’t boost their bottom line.”
More than 20 percent of Lynn residents live below the poverty line, according to the 2010 U.S. Census.
“We hope that our state’s leaders will catch on to Partners’ disturbing agenda and fight back to keep Union Hospital open,” added Turner.
Turner sent a letter to new Partners CEO Dr. David Torchiana this summer outlining requests from healthcare workers who are seeking more information, accountability, and transparency from the ultra-wealthy hospital system regarding its plans for the hospital closure. Partners so far has failed to respond to that meeting request. Partners has also failed to respond to a request that they participate in a town hall-style meeting regarding the closure and a proposal to move forward with an independent study of the impact that the hospital’s closure could have on Lynn-area families.
Meanwhile, healthcare workers have created a Change.org petition to invite community members to join in the fight to keep Union Hospital open and restore revenue-generating services needed to make the hospital self-sustaining.
In the July 30 letter to Torchiana, 1199SEIU leaders called on Partners HealthCare to take substantive action to preserve hospital services in the city of Lynn. Healthcare workers have requested a meeting with Dr. Torchiana to discuss five different topics:
A firmer commitment to healthcare in Lynn, as the company’s pledge to maintain an emergency room in Lynn over the next “several years” is vague and could leave the city without lifesaving care for residents;A commitment to commission an independent study regarding the community health needs of Lynn and the impact that the proposed hospital closure would have on seniors and low-income children;A commitment by Partners to free and fair union elections in Salem and other NSMC-Partners facilities in light of the potential shifting of union jobs to the Salem campus;A request that Dr. Torchiana attend a town hall forum in Lynn to discuss the independent study as part of a commitment to transparency and accountability to city residents; andA commitment to reinvest the purported $18 million in consolidation savings to expand access to quality, affordable healthcare services and jobs in the city of Lynn, including through potential investments in the Lynn Community Health Center.
Partners, which had revenue of $11 billion in 2014, has spent the last two years removing vital services at Union Hospital. The healthcare giant is also the recipient of some of the richest reimbursement rates in the nation and has resisted repeated calls by local leadership and residents to preserve the hospital.
Check out the ads:
SoundCloud
Lynn Daily Item Ad
Stay up to date on the latest media coverage:
Boston Business Journal
Lynn Daily Item
- See more at: http://www.1199seiu.org/1199ers_blast_partners_plan_to_close_lynn_campus_of_north_shore_medical_center#sthash.KMII8vIQ.dpuf
