By Tom Henderson • Staff Writer • 

WVMC nurses seek to unionize

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Comments

Christmas has Talons

Funny,this doesn't sound like the patients are being thought of at all. I certainly don't appreciate being told this is about patients when what being considered and discussed here is money. We all care about making the most we can with our skills and education just be honest and say that just don't finger paint us a picture and tell us it's a Rembrandt.

SeriousDoGooder

Nurses (as well as several other fields of healthcare workers) are in high demand due to shortages. They are marketable. To keep excellent staff here they need to feel valued, well compensated, and supported in their desire to grow. They may stick around out of pride in their employer or loyalty to coworkers. Sadly, none of these is being provided at a reasonable level at WVMC of late.
The new ownership at our city’s hospital has cut benefits, delayed annual raises, dictated a new "culture" from across the country, and "reorganized" in ways that have pushed out excellent, experienced leaders. Even if positions are filled, it is often with less qualified candidates - many of whom will stay just long enough to get the experience needed to move on.
Our community deserves a hospital with a base of committed, local employees that share its values & concerns. It deserves a hospital with experienced staff that mentor new employees with their depth of knowledge. To achieve this, it needs leadership that values employees and shows it by working WITH them, compensating them competitively, and offering them career growth.
If WVMC is as profitable as I am told it is, shouldn't its owners give it EXTRA care? Instead, it is treated as a place where cutbacks can be made while focus is moved to the rest of their system’s hospitals; most of which are in Tennessee.
This wheel better keep squeaking before any more nails fall out and it falls off the cart.

Mudstump

My son is a registered nurse. He works hard...belongs to the union. Cutbacks and downgrading positions to fill them with people who are less educated, less experienced, but cheaper is dangerous to patients. Profits at the expense of patients is wrong. Get out of the healthcare business if you are more interested in the bottom line than caring for patients. Nurses are on the front line of healthcare. They are highly skilled and trained professionals. Yes, unionize!

A New Generation

If you insert 'County' for 'hospital' and leave out the phrase re: TN ownership, you could be talking about the situation at Yamhill County. Turnover is the same; and knowing a few of the nurses there: it's a mess.
" _______ has cut benefits, delayed annual raises, dictated a new "culture" from across the country, and "reorganized" in ways that have pushed out excellent, experienced leaders. Even if positions are filled, it is often with less qualified candidates - many of whom will stay just long enough to get the experience needed to move on.
Our community deserves a hospital with a base of committed, local employees that share its values & concerns. It deserves a hospital with experienced staff that mentor new employees with their depth of knowledge. To achieve this, it needs leadership that values employees and shows it by working WITH them, compensating them competitively, and offering them career growth."

Lulu

Good for the nurses!

Bill B

Wow, after reading these comments thought I should read up on the hospital's ownership. Apollo Global Management owns it among many other hospitals and non-related companies. As soon as I read that it was a private equity firm, the negative comments made sense. These firms care only about the bottom line and do not make one comfortable about any potential stay at WVMC! Not sure a union will help that though.

A New Generation

Right you are, Bill B! While corporations are not people (okay,shareholders), by definition they exist to satisfy those shareholders (make them money). Once managed care came on the scene in the 1980's and was soon afterwards hijacked to become 'for profit', that's what landed us in the mess we're in today. Their ratings are now rock bottom and morale among employees couldn't be worse. We all know that nurses run the show, so to continue on, without advocacy for employees and thus vis-a-vis patients, is a recipe for continuing poor quality health care. Such a shame.

Tyler C

This is very good news! I stand with the nurses in their efforts to unionize.

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