Nurses and Techs "Back
to the Bedside" at L&M Hospital, Administrators End Illegal Lockout
By Matt O'Connor
Editor's note: the New London Day reports that L&M Chief Financial Office Lou Inzana resigned and taken a new job at the Maine Medical Center. Inzana was a top architect of an L&M scheme to "off-shore" millions of dollars of L&M assets, including the establishment of a Cayman Islands-based "captive" self-insurance company that Connecticut regulators do not allow in the state.
New London - Caregivers illegally locked
out of Lawrence & Memorial (L&M) Hospital 19 days ago today returned to
work, temporarily halting a standoff over the future of health service delivery
for the region. Lawrence & Memorial Corporation (LMC) representatives on
Tuesday unilaterally ordered an end to the unlawful activity after talks with
the unions representing the hospital's caregivers failed to produce a mutual
agreement.
D'Abrosca's comments refer to
the corporation's obligation to suspend shifting patient care services away
from the community hospital while the matter remains a subject of collective
bargaining negotiations. Union leaders and LMC representatives exchanged
numerous proposals to address the issue during efforts that began in September
to achieve successor agreements for contracts that expired November 16. The
National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has also taken up the dispute and sworn
testimony is scheduled to be heard next month in an ongoing trial over the
matter.
"We've never given up on
preserving access to quality patient care," said L&M Hospital sleep
lab technician Stephanie Johnson. "We always said that coming together
with management -- especially when we're talking about our patients -- was
possible and preferable. Now that we're back to work, we hope the
administration gets back on track and is willing to work with us," said
Johnson, president of AFT Local 5051, representing approximately 250 licensed
practical nurses (LPNs), healthcare technicians and technologists at the
hospital.
Johnson's comments refer to
an expectation that LMC will agree to continue talks aimed at a settlement of
the dispute over transferring health services away from the hospital's main
campus. Efforts to resolve the matter in contract negotiations last month
stalled and led to a vote by the members of both unions authorizing a strike to
protest the unfair practice. The nurses and techs remain committed to assuring
community access to quality care and that is provided by skilled professionals.
"Hospital leadership has
shown that they were actually listening to the community," said Melodie Peters,
an LPN who worked at L&M Hospital for 15 years and serves as president of
AFT Connecticut. "Pulling the plug on an illegal lockout demonstrates that
the message the people of this region were delivering was received, loud and
clear," said Peters, also a former state senator from the region.
Peters' comments refer to the
encouragement and solidarity that patients, their families, civic leaders, and
elected officials have shown for the nurses and techs before and during the
illegal lockout. Over $65,000.00 in donations have been made to a
"hardship fund" that AFT Connecticut and its national union last week
set up to provide relief for the caregivers.
Nearly 1,000 gifts were donated
for a holiday gift delivery the federation and the United Labor Agency on
Tuesday coordinated for caregivers' children. A new ad in the "I Am
L+M" public awareness effort was today placed in The Day thanking
the community for their ongoing support throughout this crisis.
