E
AST MEADOW — As health care workers in hospitals are currently battling to save lives due to the current COVID-19 pandemic, public hospital workers in Long Island are fighting to make sure their services aren’t reduced by a risky privatization scheme.
Our CSEA Nassau University Medical Center Unit is fighting to preserve services at the public hospital and neighboring public nursing home, as a private sector health care provider is trying to take over the facility and cut services.
The private sector Northwell Health, the largest health care provider on Long Island, entered into a partnership with NUMC in 2018 to address fiscal issues at the public hospital. Northwell is seeking to cut services at NUMC, which serves as a ‘safety net’ facility for patients who may be on Medicare, Medicaid or lack insurance.
“Where are our uninsured and underinsured residents supposed to go?” said Nassau County Local President Ron Gurrieri. “I’d like to sit down with hospital administrators to discuss effective ways to subsidize hospital operating costs so that our members, and the general public, won’t be negatively impacted.”
A ‘monopoly’
While our members’ contract with NUMC includes a no-layoff clause, the cuts would still lead to job losses because there will be fewer units to staff and fewer patients to serve.
Unit members are also on guard due to the county’s fiscal control board, Nassau Interim Finance Authority requesting financial information about hospital spending, including union members’ salaries.
CSEA Nassau County Local President Ron Gurrieri and Nassau University Medical Center Unit President Lynne Kramer discuss important issues with members.
“Northwell is on its way to becoming a monopoly in this area,” said NUMC Unit President Lynne Kramer. “NUMC is really the only hospital that is out there by itself. It’s a scary time for us.”
NUMC has faced fiscal difficulties in recent years that have made providing services more difficult.
“A primary example are the cuts that NUMC made to our ambulance budget,” said Kramer. “When NUMC has an influx of people who need to be transported, we have to rely on Northwell Health to transport patients when we run out of ambulances.”
NUMC also has psychiatric, burn and detox units, services that many other local hospitals do not provide.
“If this hospital starts eliminating services, community members will have to start going to surrounding hospitals where they will not be helped if they can’t afford to pay,” said Kramer. “I believe people should be taken care of regardless of whether they have a big bank account or not. If anyone on the hospital board, or any of the legislators, actually believed in our mission to help everyone in need of medical care, they would be fighting as hard as we are to keep this hospital open.”
NUMC a vital hospital
Our members are also concerned about cutting services at a hospital that is centrally located between Nassau County’s north and south shores. If emergency workers were forced to bypass NUMC for a more distant hospital, the extra minutes could be devastating.
As an increasing number of people become infected by COVID-19, NUMC’s role as a safety net hospital is more important than ever.
Our members are also concerned about a lack of transparency from the NUMC hospital board, which began holding meetings in a far smaller conference room than previous meeting locations. After a CSEA rally that drew local press, the board also began issuing tickets to limit attendance at their meetings.
Fighting back
CSEA members are fighting to preserve hospital services, getting our message out on social media, television and newspapers.
Unit members are also holding rallies before hospital board meetings, at which they wear red t-shirts with a hashtag that reads, “#NassauNeedsNUMC.” The same slogan is being used for pins, social media and other forms of collateral to raise awareness about the threat to hospital services.
“I’ve been encouraging our members to wear the t-shirts on their off time,” said Kramer. “I can’t tell you how many people have asked me about my shirt and about articles they’ve seen in local papers. I use the conversation as an opportunity to encourage people to join us at rallies and hospital board meetings.”
In addition to regular unit meetings, our NUMC Unit also staffs a table each month at hospital’s cafeteria to update members on the latest union news.
Through it all, our members are seeing why union membership is so important.
“Our members are seeing how much unions do for you,” said Kramer. “If we didn’t have a strong, fighting union in place, it would be over for us already. It’s not good enough to just be a member. In order to effect change, you have to be a part of the fight for our future.”
— Wendi Bowie
