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Layoffs reported at KDMC
King's Daughters Medical Center
ASHLAND -- At least 80 union employees at King's Daughters Medical Center were laid off Tuesday while about 70 others were switched to part-time jobs and lost their health benefits, according to a union representative.
Medical center officials acknowledged a reduction in staff in a press release, but did not specify the number of employees affected, explaining that some workers could be moved to other positions. The mounting costs of unreimbursed care and people putting off healthcare procedures were cited as factors in the action.
"The economic recession has hit our region hard and is lasting longer than anyone expected," according to the release. "Unfortunately, we had to make the very difficult decision to reduce the number of team members the medical center employs."
King's Daughters is the largest single employer in the Tri-State with 4,200 employees before the layoffs. The medical center's main facility is its 465-bed hospital in Ashland, but KDMC has 15 additional facilities in southern Ohio and eastern Kentucky, according to the hospital's website.
Rob Johnson, the Hospital Division Director for the Service Employees International Union, District 1199, confirmed that 82 employees represented by District 1199 were among those laid off. He said they were both direct care providers and support staff.
He said some of the workers told him they were told about the layoffs without notice, as is required under a collective bargaining agreement, escorted to their lockers by guards and ushered out the door.
"The truth is that this is about placing profits before people," Johnson said. "The folks who work at this hospital provide quality patient care for our community, and these layoffs could put that care at risk."
Gerri Richardson of Ashland, a food service clerk for the past six years, was told she was getting cut back from 40 hours a week to 20 and would lose her health insurance. "I'm a diabetic," she said. "I came here for the health insurance. I worked at the Texas Roadhouse and came here for $2 more an hour, but the real reason was for the health insurance."
She said her life insurance is being cut from $40,000 to $16,000 and she won't be getting any short-term disability.
"I might have to get a second job," Richardson said.
Having her hours cut in half and losing her health insurance "is going to be hard," said Kathy Sparks of Durbin, a food service clerk at the hospital for the past five years.
Union employees were given a decertification letter Tuesday, asking them to sign it if they wanted to get rid of the union, Richardson said. District 1199 represents some 672 service and maintenance employees at King's Daughters.
"It's a start to get rid of the union," Richardson said. "We'll fight tooth and nail to keep this union."
The release from medical center stressed that KDMC had gone to great lengths to avoid cutting jobs.
"KDMC has weathered the economic downturn for two years by minimizing capital expenditures, changing benefits, renegotiating contracts and changing flow processes whenever possible to improve efficiency," the release said. "In healthcare, people are our most important resource, which has made this decision even more difficult. However, it is critical for the future of healthcare in our community."
"KDMC is working closely with the team members affected by the organizational changes to access available benefits, including other job options that may be available both in the medical center and in the region, and including unemployment benefits. We know this will be traumatic for all our team members and the community as well, but we will support them through this difficult time."
The release states that unreimbursed care and bad debt are at an all-time high, approaching $100 million this year -- about 33 percent more than the previous year.
Johnson said the hospital is the wealthiest hospital system within hundreds of miles. He said the hospital took in $480 million with a net profit of $1.8 million in 2008 and generated $580 million with a profit of $31 million in 2009.
Hospital officials would neither confirm nor deny net profit figures for the not-for-profit hospital.
"The harsh reality is that patients are delaying their own healthcare and often those who are receiving the needed care cannot pay for it," the release said. "Cost reductions alone cannot compensate for this change in our community and in our country. We are working with eligible team members to fill open positions within our organization, so we don't have a final number and won't for some time."
Union members won't know the exact number of layoffs and cutbacks until the bumping process is finished, said Paula Brainard, the union's grievance chair.
"We're hearing the entire dietary department is being affected," she said. There are about 100 union employees in the department, she said.
Union and management will meet at 8 a.m. Wednesday, Brainard said. After that, she intends to file a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board in Cincinnati.
The layoffs, which came without a 7-day notice, are a violation of the collective bargaining agreement. "They also failed to ask for volunteer layoffs first, another violation," she said. "They also kept temporary employees and they are supposed to be let go first in the case of a layoff. That's another violation."
Some employees being retained are supposed to get three days to make a decision on a new job, but were asked to decide immediately, she said.
District 1199 includes dietary, maintenance, housekeeping, laundry, unit secretary, transcriptionists, coders, phlebotomists, and central supply workers.
