More than 150 nurses and healthcare workers struck for two days in November to protect healthcare for hospice and home care patients, and for the families of workers.
The two day unfair labor practice strike began Wednesday, November 9 and continued until Friday, November 11. Workers picketed outside of the Thurston county Providence SoundHomeCare & Hospice site. A community rally was held with community leaders and elected officials.
Providence Health and Services is demanding new policies that would reduce access to sick leave and encourage caregivers to come to work sick to avoid losing personal time. Another policy would shift family healthcare costs to employees. Workers say these changes would hurt the patients they care for, and make it difficult to afford healthcare for their families. “Our home care patients are fragile. Even bringing something as simple as a cold into their homes can be deadly, so a policy that puts patients at risk like this could be dangerous,” said Judy Taylor, a Home Health nurse in Shelton.
“It’s unethical for us to be in a position to care for patients while sick, but that’s what this policy encourages,” said Jennifer Walchak-Sloan, a social worker. “It’s an honor to do hospice work, but it takes a toll. When we’re sick, we need to take care of ourselves, and we can’t do that if Providence changes its policies to this punitive plan.”
Walchak-Sloan, a mother of two children, is also concerned about the shift in healthcare costs to workers. “As healthcare workers, we provide care for the community. Providence is extremely profitable, but they’re making it harder to have healthcare for our families,” she continued. “Everything is going up in price, including food and gas. We’re working harder and harder to meet our patient’s needs, and Providence’s profits reflect that – but they continue to take away from us. That’s not right.”
While the rest of the country continues to face a recession, the Providence System has racked up $942 million in operating profits from 2008 through 2010, and has already posted over $187million in operating profits through September 2011.
At least eight regional and system-level executives make more than $1 million in total annual compensation, including CEO John Koster with total compensation of $1.8 million, according to the most recently available financial data.
“We’d really like to see Providence put patients first with their policies, but that’s not what these changes do. They put profits first, instead of the care our patients should receive,” said Kathy Cook, a hospice nurse.
