More than 820 RNs are proud members of SEIU Healthcare 1199NW.

Find your contract here.

Delegates:

Ann Kalesnick
REGISTERED NURSE 2
PAT 4
Shift: D
Campus: Lakeland Village – 3012

Barbara Bizilia
NURSING CARE CONSULTANT
R4 / HCS APS 4
Shift:
Campus: ADSA HCS – 3024

Mark Sweeney
REGISTERED NURSE 3
PAT 4
Shift: N
Campus: Lakeland Village – 3012

Paul Vilja
REGISTERED NURSE 3
E7
Shift:D
Campus:WSH-3008

Richard Simpson
REGISTERED NURSE 2
PAT C
Shift: E
Campus: Rainier School – 3011

MultiCare and the Franciscans have been extraordinarily successful, earning millions in profits in 2011. Yet even with staggering profits, and outlandish CEO compensation, the Franciscans and MultiCare are seeking to cut healthcare jobs and limit workers’ access to affordable health benefits. Despite enormous wealth in these health systems that dominate Peirce County, the health status of county residents lags shamefully behind King and Thurston Counties. Tacoma healthcare workers are seeking to create a healthy economy and a healthy community.

Join SEIU Healthcare 1199NW President Diane Sosne, RN and healthcare workers from St. Joseph’s Medical Center, St. Clare’s Hospital and Good Samaritan to learn more about efforts to ensure our healthcare providers are serving our community.

Saturday, February 11
10:30 AM – 12:00
IBEW Hall, 3049 S 36th St. Tacoma

The Board declared an impasse in negotiations at Wednesday evening’s Board meeting, February 1.

Nurses and healthcare workers at the hospital are outraged to hear that the Olympic Medical Center plans to discontinue negotiations and implement its last offer.

“Providing the best patient care requires team work from all of us, but when the hospital unilaterally makes all of the decisions, that’s not teamwork,” said Ginny Majewski, an RN at the hospital.

“By declaring impasse, Olympic Medical Center says it is done bargaining and won’t work with us any further to make improvements to patient safety and staffing . They’re saying that they’re okay with the way it is right now: we don’t have enough nurses to meet all of our patient needs, we frequently work short staffed, and we have to work fatigued and exhausted because the hospital can’t provide us with time to take meals or breaks.

This doesn’t send a good message to our patients, nor does it tell us as nurses and healthcare workers that they value and respect our critical role at our patient’s bedside.

We don’t think enough has been done to ensure the best care for our patients, and we think that should send a clear message to the hospital that now is not the time to walk away,” Majewski continued.

SEIU Healthcare 1199NW President Diane Sosne, RN, MN said that good-faith bargaining needs to continue.

“We are deeply disappointed and disturbed that this employer is rejecting the legal rights of our members to collectively bargain a fair contract. It’s concerning to see they would rather dictate the terms of this agreement than negotiate,” said Sosne.

“As a patient, you want to know that the hospital CEO and management can work together on your care, but the leadership team of this hospital is not able to problem solve, and that has huge implications for patients.
We are calling on the CEO and the Board to return to the bargaining table, because that is where this agreement should be settled, instead of walking away.”

Every year 100,000 patients die from preventable medical errors. Errors are the eighth leading cause of death in our country. It is the vigilance of nurses and other healthcare workers that stops the majority of these errors.

But we can’t keep our patients safe if we don’t have the staffing we need to do our jobs. That means having enough nurses for our patients, having the ability to take meal and rest breaks, and limiting how our hospitals use on-call to fill staffing shortages.

Our union is working with other healthcare unions to introduce three legislative bills that will improve patient safety and staff retention, and reduce healthcare costs. We met with legislators at the capitol to tell them we need legislation that keeps us and our patients safe.

We can expect hospital administrators to oppose these bills and argue against their necessity. We need to make sure legislators continue hear from us about the need to safeguard our patients with statewide standards for quality care.

Know the facts. Stand up for your patients.

“I’m the co-chair of our safe staffing committee at Harborview. The current staffing law is not strong enough. Nurses and management work all year to create a staffing plan that is safe for our patients and allows us to give good patient care, but now with one signature the CEO can say ‘this doesn’t work for us’ and implement their own plan that often doesn’t have the patients’ best interests in mind.”
Kristie Dimak, RN, Harborview Medical Center

“We normally have five patients per nurse on my unit and we’re buddied up with another nurse to cover our breaks or meals. But that means I have to turn my five patients over to that nurse, giving them 10 patients. We often don’t feel safe leaving 10 patients with one nurse, so we just don’t take the breaks. When I or one of my loved ones is a patient, I want the nurses to be at 100%, safe and alert. With that kind of patient load they’re not. There need to be penalties if nurses don’t get their meals or breaks because right now that isn’t happening and nothing is done about it.”
Janine Baxter, RN, Valley Hospital

“We’re usually staffed close to the bone, with no real plan for how to get breaks. I watch my co-workers run around busily, with no breaks for anyone. People get irritable and the teamwork suffers. We do our best, but is it really safe for our patients?”
Valerie Corley US, Highline Medical Center

“I’m a diabetic, and there was a time I did not get a break or lunch and so I had low blood sugar. I administered a medication to a patient too early. No harm was done to the patient, but I made an error because I wasn’t rested and fed. That 30-minute break gives nurses time to decompress. We are getting patients who are sicker and sicker and need more involved care. There are more chances of nurses making mistakes like I made when they’re tired and hungry. Make it mandatory that hospitals allow us to have breaks so we can be safe with our patients.”
Allen Bell, RN, Yakima Valley Memorial Hospital

“Many of us working in OR and Imaging areas take a lot of call. We take pride in our work and want to be there when it counts. But what about when it’s just a staffing band-aid?

In my department we just decreased the staff and increased the call. Now we regularly work our scheduled shift and then 8 hours of overtime. When call is abused, both the staff and the patients suffer.”
Kelly Bleiweis, Rad Tech Reg ll, Swedish Medical Center

Join us at important membership meetings and votes:

Monday, January 30
7:00am – 9:30, 11am – 1:30, 2:30 – 7:00pm
Olympic Room

Tuesday, January 31
6:30am – 8:30am, 3:00pm – 8:00pm
Baker room

Thursday, February 2
11:00am – 2:00pm
Baker room

Your bargaining team is recommending a YES vote with an action plan. We need to send a clear, strong message to management that we make healthcare work and reject healthcare cuts! We need to assure our families are healthy and cared for.

MultiCare has been and still is extremely profitable; we should see that reflected in our healthcare premiums and not in CEO / Executive million dollar bonuses and multimillion salaries!

“Join me in voting YES for an action plan to move management. We make Good Samaritan work. Come to vote meeting and support your bargaining team effort to get a fair contract.”
Grace Land, CSR

“Your bargaining team needs you to vote YES to take action for a training fund that works for us and affordable healthcare for our families.”
Laura Dougherty, EVS

The SEIU Healthcare 1199 NW Multi-Employer Training Fund CAN HELP!!

The SEIU Healthcare 1199NW Multi-Employer Training and Education Fund provides healthcare workers with counseling, education and training opportunities to advance their careers, ensure job security, and provide the highest quality of patient care.

Nurses at Swedish Medical Center, Highline Medical Center, and Valley Medical Center can receive counseling, tuition and other assistance for completion of a BSN, a Masters Degree to teach, and some Nurse Practitioner programs. Other special programs may also be funded by grant money. Staff nurses are also eligible for specialty certification exam and re-certification fee reimbursement up to $300.00 This benefit supplements the CE benefit in your union contract.

See the Training Fund website for more information including eligibility requirements, and a link to the initial application required for all programs or to request an appointment with a case manager.

www.healthcareerfund.org

Other ways to contact the Training Fund
Phone: (425) 255-0315
Fax: (425) 255-0347
Email: members@healthcareerfund.org

Critical access hospitals like ours are the healthcare lifeline for rural communities. We’re the closest medical care in an emergency for miles around, and we care for patients when seconds count during heart attacks, strokes, deliveries, and emergent surgeries. Our hospital budgets rely heavily on Medicare and Medicaid to care for elderly and low-income patients, but our state and federal government are proposing millions of dollars in cuts to our Medicaid cost reimbursement. Our hospitals stand to lose a significant part of their budget, which means they will have to cut healthcare programs and jobs in our community.

Our legislators need to hear that we’re counting on them to put healthcare first and protect our patients and families. Our state continues to face a budget shortfall, and many legislators think that cuts are the only option. We need our elected leaders to support new revenues that would protect our hospitals instead of cutting programs that would cause harm to our patients.

What’s on the line?

Proposed cuts would eliminate $44 million from Critical Access Hospitals in our state, including:

• Klickitat Valley Hospital $1.85 million
• Providence St. Joseph Hospital $1.2 million
• Lincoln Hospital $480,000
• Lourdes Hospital $3.4 million
• Newport Hospital $700,000
• Prosser Memorial Hospital $1.4 million

“Last month all of the nurses at my clinic were laid off in anticipation of cuts to critical access hospitals. Now I’m unemployed and our community is losing life-saving care. Last month I had a call from a patient with chest pains. I told him this was likely a heart attack and he needed care immediately. There’s nobody answering that phone now. We need new revenue that will protect healthcare.”
Faith Bryson, RN, formerly at Prosser Memorial Hospital

“Our legislators need to hear how important critical access hospitals are. We do a lot of level 1 cardiac care patients with chest pain. From the time patients come to our door, we’ll have them stabilized and in the nearest cath lab within 90 minutes. We were the first rural hospital with this program, and many of our patients can get through a heart attack or stroke with little or no damage because of our ability to act quickly. The next hospital is 45 miles away, which is too far when you need care now.”
Betty McClure, RN, Lincoln Hospital

“We care for our community from their first developing moments to their last dying breaths. We need our legislators to support revenues that will protect that care. Any kind of cut to our hospital means lives are on the line. We see a lot of trauma patients from river and agricultural accidents, and those patients can’t wait. Legislators need to hear what cuts would mean for us.”
Deb Borden, LPN, Lincoln Hospital

“When you’re in an emergency, we’re the hospital that will save your life. Many of our patients can’t afford to wait to get to the next hospital. We’re 70 miles from Yakima, 120 miles from Portland, and our ambulance service covers 1,000 square miles. The healthcare we provide is essential, and can’t be cut.”
Dave Gilliam, RN, Klickitat Valley Hospital

“I told our legislators that we need new revenues to protect our hospitals. Prosser is critical to those of us in the valley – not only do we serve Prosser, but also 5 surrounding communities. I spent 12 years with Benton County Fire District #2 and I remember bringing patients into the ER and the hospital having to turn the lights on and call the doctor from home. That’s far from the case now. We provide care for all around our community and travelers passing through the I-82 corridor with 24 hour Board certified care and physicians. Without Prosser it would be 45 minutes to an hour to get to another hospital.”
Jay Boyle, RN, Prosser Memorial Hospital

“I’ve spent 9 years working for Providence St. Joseph’s Hospital, a critical access hospital in Chewelah. Having worked in a number of different departments, including the ER, I’ve seen just how many lives have been saved by our hospital and their excellent team. It never hit more home until my mom became a patient in our ER. She was essentially within hours of losing her life. We didn’t have the time to reach one of the outlying hospitals. The nurses and doctors here stabilized her and made sure she was taken care of until she was transferred to a higher level facility. This critical access hospital saved my mom’s life, and for every patient like her, we need to make sure we protect this kind of care. I’m asking my legislators to support new revenue.”
Tia Ratel, Medical Staff Assistant, Providence St. Joseph’s Hospital

“We are an essential service to our community, and the only hospital and Emergency Room in Franklin County. If our funding is cut our community will suffer an irreparable loss of healthcare services and jobs that serve our community. When seconds count, we’re the care you need.”
Melinda McBee, Pharmacy tech, Lourdes Medical Center

In accordance with Articles VI and VII of SEIU Healthcare 1199NW By-Laws, elections for the following offices will be held in 2012:

• President†
• Executive Vice President†
• Secretary-Treasurer†
• Vice President-Private Sector
• Vice President-Public Sector

Candidates elected as President, Executive Vice President, Secretary-Treasurer, Vice President-Private Sector and Vice President-Public Sector will also serve as delegates to the SEIU Convention held during their term of office.

• Executive Board Representatives for each bargaining unit per Article VI Section 1
• All DSHS Officer Positions
• All SWEA Officer Positions

Terms of office are two years beginning June 1, 2012.

Nominating Petitions for District Officers

In order to be nominated to run for any of the District-wide Officer positions you must be a member in good standing* of the District for at least the preceding year (unless joined through new organizing less than one year previously). You must have at least 10% of the members of the Union in good standing* sign your petition.

Nominating Petitions for Executive Board Positions

The Executive Board shall consist of the District-wide Officers and representatives from each Chapter as follows:

1. One elected member for each Chapter (must be a member of the bargaining unit);

2. In Chapters that have more than 200 members as of December 31, 2011, there will be one additional elected Executive Board member for each 200 members;

3. Group Health Registered Nurses will have one representative from each region. The remainder of positions shall be at large. All GHC positions for Executive Board shall be voted on by the entire Chapter membership.

In order to be nominated to run for Executive Board, you must be a member in good standing* of the District for at least the preceding year (unless joined through new organizing less than one year previously). You must have at least 10% of the members of your chapter in good standing* sign your petition.

Eligibility to Sign Nominating Petition
You must be a member in good standing* as of January 31, 2012.

Nominating Process

Nominating petitions will be available February 1, 2012 from the union’s Renton office and must be returned to the SEIU Healthcare 1199NW office at 15 South Grady Way, #200, Renton, WA 98057 no later than 5:00 p.m. March 7, 2012.

Elections

Elections will be held by mailed ballot. Ballots and a voter’s guide of candidates for all offices will be mailed to members by Friday April 13, 2012, at their address of record. Returned ballots received at P.O. Box 1040, Renton, WA 98057 no later than May 4, 2012, at 3:00 p.m., to be counted.

The District Election Board will meet at the union office in Renton to begin counting the ballots and certifying the election on May 4, 2012.

Eligibility to Vote

You must be a member in good standing* as of April 1, 2012.

For information on the duties and responsibilities of a particular office, please see the SEIU Healthcare 1199NW Bylaws.

For petitions or for more information, please contact your current Executive Board Representative or the Union office at (425)917-1199 or 1-800-422-8934.

† These three positions are full time paid positions: all remaining positions are rank and file membership positions.

* A member in good standing has signed a membership card and is current in his/her dues.

The Multi-Employer Fund hired new Executive Director Mary Rosenthal to oversee the development of the fund and work with participating hospital employers Swedish Medical Center, Highline Medical Center, Valley Medical Center, Northwest Hospital, and Group Health Cooperative, the newest employer to join the fund.

Group Health’s contribution, like other participating employers, will be used for tuition assistance, counseling, college readiness, and tutoring for healthcare workers to advance their careers into healthcare. Group Health members should visit www.healthcareerfund.org

In 2011:

• 402 members used the tuition assistance benefit
• 330 members took college readiness, ESL or basic computer skills classes
• 37 SEIU Healthcare 1199NW members graduated from degree or certificate programs
• 144 RNs used the Training Fund’s specialty nurse exam fee reimbursement benefit

“I work in admitting at Northwest Hospital, and I’m using our union’s training fund to become a nurse. We’ll see an influx of patients coming through our doors through healthcare reform. Our training fund means we can be there for our patients, and advance our own careers.”
Melinda Hannafious, Admitting, Northwest Hospital

“I’m using our union’s training fund to become a Medical Lab Technician. I’m taking a chemistry class next quarter to help me become a Lab Tech, and that’s good for my family and the hospital. I am thankful to have this assistance with my education.”
Claudia Salas, Lab Assistant, Northwest Hospital