Nurses (Page 8)

On:
In: Allina, Home, Hospitals, Labor Unions, Nurses

By Mathew Keller

MNA Regulatory and Policy Nursing Specialist

Allina’s final estimate of how much money it wasted on labor strife is in, with the health system pegging its total strike costs at 149 million dollars. As Allina employees know, however, this number is an underestimate. While the estimate includes the cost of shipping replacement nurses into Minnesota and paying them hourly rates that would make a cardiologist blush, and subtracts the costs Allina would have paid its trusted nurses were they not on strike– it does not account for the fact that Allina has been and will continue to pay eye-popping sums for replacement nurses well into 2017 due to the extreme level of nurse-turnover post-strike.
… Read more about: What can $149 million get you?  »

On:
In: HCMC, Home, Nurses

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?  »

On:
In: HCMC, Home, Hospitals, layoffs, Nurses

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  »

On:
In: Home, Nurses, Press Releases, Uncategorized

Contact:  Rick Fuentes

(o) 651-414-2863
(c) 612-741-0662
rick.fuentes@mnnurses.orgBarbara Brady
(o) 651-414-2849
(c) 651-202-0845
barbara.brady@mnnurses.org

(St. Paul) – December 16, 2016 – Nurses are once again the most honest and ethical profession in the U.S., according to a Gallup poll released today.Nurses’ honesty and ethics were rated very high or high by 84 percent of respondents in the annual survey.

They were followed by pharmacists, medical doctors, engineers, and dentists.

It’s the 15th year in a row that Americans rated nurses as the most trusted profession.

“The public gets it – nurses put patients first,” said MNA President Mary Turner.
… Read more about: Press Release: Nurses most honest and ethical profession for 15th consecutive year  »

On:
In: Board of Nursing, Home, Nurse licensure, Nurses, Substance Abuse

By Eileen Gavin

MNA Political Organizer

 

Atlanta drug rehab defines substance use disorder (SUD), also known as drug use disorder, as a condition in which the use of one or more substances leads to a clinically significant impairment or distress. Substance use disorders occur when the recurrent use of alcohol and/or drugs causes clinically significant impairment, including health problems, disability, and failure to meet major responsibilities at work, school, or home.

According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) In 2014, about 21.5 million Americans (8.1%) were classified with a substance use disorder in the past year.
… Read more about: Nurses Helping Nurses  »

On:
In: Elections, Home, Nurse licensure, Nurses, Nurses Strike

By Laura Sayles

MNA Government Affairs Specialist

 

Seems like it’s a tradition that around Thanksgiving everyone writes about what they are thankful for. To mix holiday metaphors, the Grinch in me can’t find much to be thankful for right now. Regardless of who you voted for, there is no doubt that this election season was brutal: to people’s mailboxes and televisions, to relationships with family and friends, to a culture of civil dialogue, to candidates who lost, to candidates who won and now have to govern highly polarized electorates.

And in all honestly, I’ve mostly succumbed to the pessimism all this brings.
… Read more about: The tradition of feeling thankful – even this year  »

Allina Strike

On:
In: Action, Allina, Home, Hospitals, Nurses, Patient Safety

By Veronica Jacobsen


Veronica Jacobsen

Veronica Jacobsen, BA, CD(DONA), CLC, CPST, LCCE, FACCE

 

 

Reprinted with permission from Baby Love Minnesota blog.  The author is an instructor in childbirth classes.  Information is available here: Here’s info on my classes: http://www.babylovemn.com/classes-at-babylove/

I have been blogging for almost exactly 5 years in this space, and maternity care outcomes and transparency hold a special place in my heart. I don’t know if anyone gets as excited as I do when new info comes out. After a lot of thought over the weekend, I am posting this.
… Read more about: Mom Says Allina Strike Puts Birthing Families in Danger  »

On:
In: Allina, Bargaining, Home, Minnesota Nurses Association, Nurses, Unsafe Staffing

Dear MNA Allina nurses,

This is long, but important.  As your Executive Director I was present for the 22 hour marathon bargaining session that just ended mere hours ago. I understand Allina has, as usual, communicated with all of you before we were able to do so (a clear divide and conquer tactic that they have become oh so good at) so I wanted to get this out to you. Please note, that communication from Allina lists the elements of their proposal but not the details because they want you to demand to vote on their proposal without knowing what that proposal will really mean for you – don’t fall for it, it’s Allina trying to cause division within the union.
… Read more about: A Letter to Our Valued MNA Nurses  »

On:
In: Activism, Allina, Home, Labor Unions, Nurses, Nurses Strike

By Mathew Keller, RN JD
Regulatory and Policy Nursing Specialist

We’ve detailed at length the connections between Piper Jaffray and Allina. Piper Jaffray, as you recall, served as a broker/dealer to a 2007 “Auction Rate Security” bond offering that ultimately led Allina to sue. Allina claimed that the other broker-dealer (UBS) knew the Auction Rate Security market would fail mere months after the bond offering, but, interestingly, Allina did not make that claim against Piper. This transaction caused Allina to lose tens of millions of dollars in penalty interest rates, interest rate swaps, and early termination fees when it refinanced the bonds.
… Read more about: MNA Requests Meeting with US Bank in order to Save Allina Money  »

On:
In: Activism, Allina, Home, Nurses, Politics

By Mathew Keller, RN JD
Regulatory and Policy Nursing Specialist

 

Despite all of its bad deals and big debts, Allina Health is still making piles of money. As this space detailed back in June, Allina has made more than $1.3 billion dollars in net revenue over the past 6 years for which financial disclosures are available. That’s after expenses, including salaries, $23.9 million in executive pay, millions to buy out McDonalds’ lease, $60 million lost on bad loans, and so on.

While Allina is a not-for-profit company, it still has to pay taxes on things like capital gains.
… Read more about: Where Are Your Medicare Dollars Taking a Vacation?  »