PROVIDENCE – Care New England’s policies and practices led frustrated employees from Butler Hospital and, to a lesser extent, Women & Infants Hospital, to protest on the afternoon of Sept. 1 outside the hospital entrance near Blackstone Boulevard in Providence.
An organizer for SEIU 1199 New England, which represents employees at Butler and Women & Infants hospitals, estimated that some 200 protesters had been present earlier, while a police officer directing traffic estimated that between 60 and 100 individuals had been present throughout the late afternoon protest.
A 12-year employee at Butler’s emergency department, Tony Woods, expressed concerns about staffing levels. “They preach compassionate care, but with the staffing levels they give us, they don’t walk the walk. Staffing levels and morale have both declined,” he said, adding that things have been especially bad under the regime of CNE President and CEO Dennis Keefe.
Calling Butler a “mecca of mental health,” Woods said that reduced staffing levels make the emergency department waiting area unsafe.
The proposed merger between CNE and Southcoast Health, a stipulation requiring CNE employees to access medical care exclusively from CNE facilities or incur expensive out-of-network fees for medical services provided by other facilities, alleged insufficient staffing levels and flat wages are all causes of concern for protesters, who distributed a flier that said, in part, “Instead of spending $20 million on consultants or paying excessive executive salaries (the CEO gets paid $1.4 million), Care New England should invest in its frontline caregivers.” The flier said, “Call CEO Dennis Keefe … Tell him to reach a fair agreement with workers at Butler Hospital.” Some 100 individuals have been hired in the last 10 months or so at Butler, said the SEIU organizer. With those new hires, SEIU represents about 500 employees – from registered nurses and social workers to dietary aides and housekeepers – at Butler and 1,800 at Women & Infants. Butler’s existing contract with its SEIU 199 employees expires in March 2017 and Women & Infants’ contract expires this November.
Aaron Regunberg, who represents Providence’s District 4 in the state House of Representatives and is a member of the House Health, Education and Welfare Committee, lent support to the protesters and the need for a fair contract and patient care. “The work that these folks do at Butler is incredibly important for our state; they deserve to be compensated fairly and have basic benefits for that important work they do day in and day out. What they’re asking for is incredibly reasonable and not excessive.” Although Regunberg called Keefe’s salary of “millions” excessive, the SEIU flier put Keefe’s salary at $1.4 million.
Requiring CNE employees to receive health care from CNE or pay out-of-network fees arose out of “some stupid fight between CNE and Lifespan,” said Patrick J. Quinn, executive vice president, SEIU 1199 New England. Grocery store employees can buy their groceries wherever they choose, and CNE employees should have the same flexibility in purchasing health care services. The policy, issued in January 2016, created mass confusion and many problems, said Quinn, citing an example of a CNE employee who lives in southeastern Massachusetts and whose child was injured playing football. “Would they have to drive to Kent Hospital when there’s a [non-CNE affiliated] hospital right down the street? That’s ridiculous.” CNE, he said, should offer options that are affordable, geographically accessible and have the service lines and specialties that people need.
Calling staffing levels too low, Quinn wants CNE to remove the “tourniquet on hiring” it has maintained for the past few years. Asked whether the union is considering a strike, he said, “We’re not there yet, but it’s something we’d definitely consider if we don’t get these issues resolved very soon.” The proposed merger has some benefits, but also the potential for loss of jobs and services and poorer quality of patient care, he added.
Butler Hospital released the following statement Sept. 2 regarding the event: “We greatly appreciate the contributions Butler Hospital employees make to support our patients’ recovery as well as to our organization’s work environment. We continue to have conversations with SEIU District 1199 and occasionally informational picketing is part of the contract negotiation process. We are confident hospital administration and union leaders will finalize a fair agreement through the collaborative engagement underway.”
