HCMC

MEDIA ADVISORY

Contact:  Amber Smigiel
(c) 651-202-0845
amber.smigiel@mnnurses.org

Lauren Bloomquist
(c) 651-376-9709
lauren.bloomquist@mnnurses.org

 

CEO cuts healthcare benefits for healthcare workers, receives raise amid nurse retention and workplace violence crisis at Hennepin County Medical Center

(St. Paul) – November 26, 2023 – On Tuesday, November 28, 2023, nurses will hold a press conference in the atrium of the Hennepin County Government Center ahead of the County Board of Commissioners meeting regarding the 2024 fiscal budget for Hennepin County Medical Center (HCMC). Nurses will announce the results of their vote of “No Confidence” in CEO Jennifer DeCubellis and encourage the County Commissioners to stand with nurses and other healthcare workers at HCMC by working with Hennepin Healthcare to create a budget that retains healthcare workers and keeps workers safe in the hospital.
… Read more about: Nurses to hold press conference to announce vote of “No Confidence” in Hennepin Healthcare CEO Jennifer DeCubellis before Hennepin County Commissioners meeting  »

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Amber Smigiel
(c) 651-202-0845
amber.smigiel@mnnurses.org

Lauren Nielsen
(c) 651-376-9709
lauren.nielsen@mnnurses.org

Nurses shared concerns to Hennepin County Board that pushed them to appropriate funds

(St. Paul) – November 6, 2023 – Nurses with the Minnesota Nurses Association (MNA) employed by Hennepin Healthcare today announced they were able to gain assistance to lower their healthcare costs from the Hennepin County Commissioners through their strong advocacy.

After informing Hennepin County Commissioner Board Chair Irene Fernando about the large cuts that were announced to their health plans and the impacts the cuts will have on recruitment and retention in an already understaffed hospital, nurses learned late last week that the Hennepin County Board approved an $8 million appropriation to help fix the insurance issues.
… Read more about: Nurses at Hennepin County Medical Center win changes to planned insurance price hikes but need more help  »

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Sam Fettig
(c) 612-741-0662
sam.fettig@mnnurses.org

Lauren Nielsen
(c) 651-376-9709
lauren.nielsen@mnnurses.org

Hennepin nurses have been in wage reopener negotiations with the county health system for months, win 2022 wage increases competitive with other metro-area hospitals

Nurses continued their campaign to hold executives accountable to protect staff and patient safety this week, sending a letter with other union workers to hospital leadership 

(St. Paul) – December 8, 2022 – Nurses with the Minnesota Nurses Association at Hennepin Healthcare today announced that they have reached a tentative agreement in wage reopener negotiations with the county health system, setting wage increases for 2022 equal to the 7 percent increase won by other Twin Cities nurses in tentative agreements
… Read more about: Hennepin nurses win tentative agreement on wages, continue push for action on workplace safety   » announced this week.

MEDIA ADVISORY

Contact: Sam Fettig
(c) 612-741-0662
sam.fettig@mnnurses.org

Lauren Nielsen
(c) 651-376-9709
lauren.nielsen@mnnurses.org

Hennepin nurses are currently in wage reopener negotiations with the county health system, seeking fair wages competitive with other metro-area hospitals
… Read more about: Nurses to hold first-ever picket at Hennepin Healthcare over retention, management inaction    »

(St. Paul) – August 17, 2022 – Nurses with the Minnesota Nurses Association at Hennepin Healthcare today announced their intent to picket on Monday, August 22, 2022, outside of the hospital. The first-ever picket by MNA nurses at Hennepin County Medical Center comes as nurses have raised concerns to Hennepin leadership over retention and under-staffing which have gone unaddressed by hospital executives.

By Sarah Simons, RN; and Kathy Everson, RN,  Janell Johnson Thiele,  MNA HCMC Tri-Chairs

When you know something is wrong, it’s worth a fight. Earlier this year, we saw that management was violating the contract in calculating annual wage increases and decided to correct that wrong.

The hospital was basing the calculations on a rolling 365-day year instead of a calendar year as required by the contract.

Our visiting nurses, who became part of MNA in 2016 and were directly affected,  first noticed the discrepancy in their paychecks and alerted us.

When we pointed out the issue and told management that the contract clearly called for basing the increases on the calendar year, HCMC claimed nurses agreed to the rolling 365 days in the past.
… Read more about: Nurse tenacity results in HCMC agreeing to correct faulty wage increase process  »

By Mathew Keller RN, JD

Regulatory and Policy Nursing Specialist

In a recent communication to its employees, HCMC claims that this space’s use of HCMC’s Form 990 financial disclosures to the IRS are misleading. Why? The Form 990 “includes as income $20 million in county capital funding that is restricted for maintaining our county-owned facilities and one-time capital funding for the new building.”

In order to get a better picture of HCMC’s finances, HCMC asks the reader to discount from the County hospital’s finances the money the County hospital receives from the County for maintenance of “old” buildings and construction of a “new” building. 
… Read more about: Fact Check: Does Money from the County Count as Revenue?  »

By Mathew Keller, RN JD

Regulatory and Policy Nursing Specialist

Hennepin County Medical Center’s 2015 numbers are in, and many HCMC employees on the chopping block might be surprised by them. Despite HCMC’s public statements contributing layoffs to a “financial challenge,” 2015 was its second-most profitable year on record as the healthcare system pocketed $28.6 million in net income—up from $11.5 million in 2014.

HCMC’s MNA nurses are calling on HCMC CEO Jon Pryor to act with more transparency regarding these layoffs. This is not a good start for Dr. Pryor, who stated in an all-employee email on December 9, 2016, “if you’ve been paying attention to the media, you know that HCMC is not the only healthcare organization facing a financial challenge right now.” Only two months prior, the CEO had signed off on the financial report showing the huge 2015 net income increase.
… Read more about: HCMC Doubles Profits in 2015  »