Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Planned Nov. 15 Strike Will Involve Nearly 32,000 Kaiser Permanente Staff
Modern Healthcare: Nearly 32,000 Kaiser Permanente Workers Plan Strike On Nov. 15
Nearly 32,000 Kaiser Permanente workers in California, Oregon and Washington plan to strike Nov. 15, the United Nurses Associations of California/Union of Health Care Professionals announced Thursday. The union represents 21,000 employees of the Oakland, California-based not-for-profit integrated health system. Thousands more workers who belong to the Oregon Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals and a United Steelworkers local also notified the company they intend to strike Nov. 15. The unions' contracts with Kaiser Permanente expired Oct. 1 and union members voted to authorize a labor action weeks later. Nearly 2,000 Kaiser Permanente employees with the National Union of Healthcare Workers also OK'd a strike last month but have not called one. (Christ, 11/4)
AP: Maintenance, Service Workers Strike At West Virginia Hospital
Maintenance and service union workers at a West Virginia hospital went on strike Wednesday after their contract expired. About 1,000 members of the Service Employees International Union District 1999 walked off the job at noon at Cabell Huntington Hospital, one of the largest employers in Huntington, West Virginia. In a statement, union district secretary-treasurer Joyce Gibson said hospital officials "have repeatedly made it clear that they value profits over workers and patients." (11/4)
Kansas City Star: Kansas State Hospitals At Crisis Level For Staffing, Capacity
The brutal attack came when staff weren’t looking. Dalton Bledsoe was a patient at one of Kansas’s three state-run mental health hospitals when, on Oct. 22, 2018, another patient began beating him. Word had gotten around that Bledsoe had been charged with crimes against children. He suffered a traumatic brain injury that left him unable to speak, according to a lawsuit his guardians later filed against the state. At the time, one out of every five mental health technician positions at Larned State Hospital were unfilled, the lawsuit said. Those who were there sometimes worked 16-hour shifts. (Bernard and Shorman, 11/5)
Also —
Houston Chronicle: Exposed: COVID-19 Highlighted The Failure To Learn Lessons From Prior Pandemics
In the fall of 2018, Dr. John Hellerstedt described a nightmarish scenario for fellow members of a panel tasked with preparing Texas for a pandemic. Before taking over as director of the Texas Department of State Health Services, Hellerstedt was a pediatrician at a children’s hospital in Austin. He said that as H1N1 swept through Texas in 2009, hospital administrators scrambled to erect tents outside to treat patients, fearing they’d be overwhelmed. Luckily, the virus proved mild. But what if a new and far more dangerous bug arrived? One that jumped easily from person to person? “That’s the thing that we all fear,” he said. (Dexheimer, Tedesco, Deam, and Root)
Modern Healthcare: Beyond The Byline: COVID-19 Pandemic Reinforces Rural Hospitals Integral Role
Modern Healthcare Insurance Reporter Nona Tepper and Senior Hospital Operations Reporter Alex Kacik talk about rural healthcare in Alabama. (Tepper and Kacik, 11/4)
The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer: MetroHealth CEO Bashes ADAMHS Board Over Behavioral Health Services, Seeks $10 Million To Develop New Solutions
Ahead of opening his own behavioral health and substance abuse facility in Cleveland Heights, MetroHealth President and CEO Akram Boutros criticized the county’s current efforts to combat the opioid crisis and asked Cuyahoga County Council for $20 million over the next two years to do better. Boutros specifically took aim at the Alcohol, Drug Addiction & Mental Health Services (ADAMHS) Board and expressed his “grave concerns about the delivery, coordination, and oversight” of the current treatment and services being provided. (Durbin, 11/4)
Salt Lake Tribune: Man Accused Of Posing As Doctor, ‘Endangering The Lives Of Multiple Patients,’ Utah A.G. Says
A Payson man faces multiple charges after authorities say he posed as a doctor for years, performing hundreds of medical procedures out of his basement and “endangering the lives of multiple patients,” according to the Utah Attorney General’s Office. Authorities say the man had been providing supposed medical services and selling medications without a license from his home on the 1000 block of 580 West, near Payson Junior High School. He saw people only on a referral basis, and only under the condition that they were in the U.S. illegally, according to a probable cause statement. (Peterson, 11/3)
