Kaiser Permanente Averts Worker Strike In Union Deal
An alliance of unions representing about 50,000 Kaiser Permanente staff agreed to a call off a strike after reaching a deal. Trustee investments, liens, Illinois' troubled health program and the nursing staff shortage are also in the news.
AP:
Kaiser Permanente, Unions Reach Labor Deal To Avert Strike
An alliance of unions representing 50,000 Kaiser Permanente workers in California, Oregon and six other states called off a strike notice after reaching a tentative labor deal Saturday with the health care network. The Alliance of Health Care Unions and Kaiser Permanente jointly announced the agreement, staving off a potentially crippling strike in which 32,000 employees, most of them in Southern California, threatened to walk off the job this coming Monday to protest understaffing and wage cuts for new hires. (11/14)
Axios:
Kaiser Permanente Averts Strike In Tentative Deal With Health Care Workers
Union leaders representing nearly 50,000 health care workers and medical staff reached a tentative agreement in a labor dispute Saturday, avoiding a strike set to begin Monday. The breakthrough in talks comes as nurses, front-line technicians and other hospital employees face worker shortages and burnout due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. (Frazier, 11/14)
In other industry news —
The Boston Globe:
Mass General Brigham Resists The Lead Of Hospitals Banning Or Limiting Trustee Investments In Its Startups
Last month, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston adopted tough new rules to ensure that its trustees don’t profit personally from their prestigious volunteer role, one that gives them front-row seats to cutting-edge — and potentially lucrative — ideas for fighting cancer. Joining several other leading US hospitals, the institution banned trustees from newly investing in startup companies based on discoveries made in Dana-Farber’s labs. The sudden change came as the Globe Spotlight Team found that at least seven trustees had personally invested in Dana-Farber startups, including one trustee who cofounded five startups and saw his stock shares in one soar by about $85 million as of this fall. (Kowalczyk and Ryley, 11/12)
Crain's New York Business:
Report: New York Hospitals Have Placed Thousands of Liens on Patients' Homes Over Bills
Hospitals across New York have filed thousands of liens on the homes of patients with outstanding medical bills, according to a report released Wednesday by the Community Service Society of New York. Fifty-six New York hospitals placed 4,880 liens on patients' homes in 2017 and 2018, the most recent years for which data was available, the nonprofit found. Simultaneously, the hospitals received more than $442 million in state funds meant to help them cover care for patients who are unable to pay, the report said. (Kaufman, 11/12)
Modern Healthcare:
Illinois’ $16 Billion Health Program Riddled With Industry Ties and Potential Conflicts of Interest
The upper echelon of the state agency charged with overseeing Medicaid is peppered with representatives of the for-profit insurance industry state officials are supposed to be policing, a Better Government Association investigation has found. An examination of state contracts, salary data, pension statements, court records and internal correspondence identified more than a dozen top-level Medicaid officials in Illinois who have current or recent financial ties to the giant insurance companies now managing the $16 billion per year taxpayers spend to provide medical care to people who cannot afford health coverage. (Jackson, 11//12)
Modern Healthcare:
Next Up Podcast: Strategic Planning For The Nursing Shortage With Kathleen Sanford (Pt. 2)
Hello and welcome to Modern Healthcare’s Next Up, the podcast for women who are emerging healthcare leaders. My name is Kadesha Smith. I'm your host and I am also the CEO of CareContent, a digital marketing agency for healthcare organizations. Today, we are continuing our conversation about the impending nursing shortage. (Smith, 11/12)
Stat:
When FDA Rattles Its Sabre, Drug Makers And Universities Start Reporting Overdue Trial Results
Over the past eight years, more than 90% of drug makers and universities that received preliminary warnings from U.S. regulators about overdue clinical trial results responded by quickly providing the information to a federal database, a new analysis found. Using Freedom of Information Act requests, researchers obtained 58 preliminary warnings the FDA sent to clinical trial sponsors — including 32 issued to drug makers — from 2013 through April 2021. Of these, 57 described potential missing trial results and one referred to missing information about registering a clinical trial, according to the analysis, which was published in JAMA. (Silverman, 11/12)
In news on Philips —
Reuters:
Philips In Talks With FDA After New Ventilator Findings - Statement
Philips (PHG.AS), the medical equipment maker that is recalling ventilators due to use of parts containing a potentially hazardous foam, said on Sunday it is in dicussions with U.S. regulators after a new inspection of one of the company's facilities. Philips in September estimated it will replace up to 4 million vetilators and respiratory devices because of a polyurethane foam part that might degrade and become toxic. The company has produced 15 million devices using the foam since 2009 but some are not in use. (11/14)
