MNA Requests Meeting with US Bank in order to Save Allina Money (Page 53)

By Mathew Keller, RN JD
Regulatory and Policy Nursing Specialist

Mathew Keller, RN JD Regulatory and Policy Nursing Specialist
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. Piper Jaffray was well represented on Allina’s Board of Directors throughout the 2007 bond offering and Allina’s lawsuit against the other broker-dealer (but not Piper).

When Allina refinanced its 2007 bonds, US Bank benefitted immensely. US Bank and Piper Jaffray have strong ties going back to 1998, when Piper was acquired by US Bank. Piper spun off US Bank in 2003, but the two corporations still do brisk business together. Until now, though, we’ve never had evidence of a direct connection between US Bank and Allina, apart from the presence of US Bank Chief Investment Officer Mark Jordahl on Allina’s Board of Directors.

Considering Jordahl’s presence on Allina’s Board, it shouldn’t be surprising that when Allina refinanced its bad 2007c series Piper Jaffray/UBS bonds, it gave $121 million worth of business to US Bank. The refinancing terms on the 2007c US Bank bonds were better than those Allina had with UBS/Piper, but still unfavorable overall. Allina lost $4 million dollars on these loans last year alone.

Allinamoneypayouts

If Allina were to refinance this debt (again) to save money, it would have to pay US Bank a $25 million termination penalty. As MNA Executive Director Rose Roach put it in a letter to Mark Jordahl requesting a meeting to discuss these loans, “that is money that could be used to better serve Allina patients.”

Roach continued to argue, “we are especially concerned about this situation, given your long tenure on the Allina board [from 2006-2016], and your leadership position as the Vice-chair and Chair from 2012 through 2014.”

The more one looks into Allina’s business dealings, the more conflicts of interest between spending money on patient care and throwing money at big banks emerge. Given these ongoing discoveries of conflicts of interest between big business and patient care, shouldn’t we all be concerned?

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?  »

On:
In: Allina, Home, Nurses Strike, Press Releases

Contact: Rick Fuentes
(o) 651-414-2863
(c) 612-741-0662
rick.fuentes@mnnurses.org

Barbara Brady
(o) 651-414-2849
(c) 651-202-0845
barbara.brady@mnnurses.org

(St. Paul) – August 26, 2016 – Nurses represented by the Minnesota Nurses Association filed a 10-day notice of intent to strike with Allina Health Friday morning. Nurses will begin an open-ended Unfair Labor Practice strike beginning at 7 a.m. on Monday, September 5, Labor Day.

“Nurses sent a message to Allina again last week with an overwhelming vote to reject the employer’s latest offer and authorize a strike,” said MNA Executive Director Rose Roach. “Nurses are exercising the voice they have, and as of 6 a.m.
… Read more about: Press Release: MNA Nurses Set to Strike Allina Health on Labor Day  »

On:
In: Essentia, Home, Patient Safety, Press Releases

Contact: Rick Fuentes
(o) 651-414-2863
(c) 612-741-0662
rick.fuentes@mnnurses.org

Barbara Brady
(o) 651-414-2849
(c) 651-202-0845
barbara.brady@mnnurses.org

(Duluth) – August 19, 2016 – After months of trying to negotiate a fair contract, MNA nurses at Twin Ports Essentia Health hospitals are going to the public with their concerns about the hospital system’s refusal to respond to safe staffing proposals by sponsoring billboards in Superior and Duluth.

The billboards read, “Has Essentia lost the care in healthcare? Ask an MNA nurse about staffing.”

“Nurses hope that publicly calling Essentia out on our concerns over safe staffing will bring them back to the negotiating table ready to agree to a contract that benefits all involved: nurses, our hospitals, patients, and our community,” said Essentia Twin Ports MNA Co-Chair Steve Strand.
… Read more about: Press Release: Nurses sponsor billboards to call attention to Essentia’s refusal to negotiate safe staffing  »

On:
In: Allina, Home, Hospitals, Nurses

By Mathew Keller

Integrity. Respect. Trust. Compassion. Stewardship. These are the core values of Allina Health. The Oxford dictionary defines integrity as “the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles; moral uprightness.” So why, then, does Allina continue to tell its nurses that it needs to shift $10 million in healthcare costs to them? In 1,664 pages of financial disclosures to the IRS and its bond investors from 2001–2014, Allina never once represents that it is anything but highly profitable, making a reported $1.3 billion dollars in net revenue over the past 6 years alone.
… Read more about: Allina Health Integrity and Irony  »

On:
In: Allina, Home, Nurses

By Mathew Keller

and Jordan Ash

We’ve seen that Allina is taking on more and more debt, $880 million in all. We’ve seen who benefits from that debt (hint: look to the Board). Today, we look into a particularly bad deal Allina made with UBS Securities and another big bank; a deal that led to losses in the tens of millions, a lawsuit; and the intervention of Minneapolis and Saint Paul.

Auction rate securities (ARS). They were popular back before the financial crisis, and the big banks loved them. Like most of the financial instruments that tanked in the recent recession, though, they’re completely made up.
… Read more about: Allina’s Bad Deals and Big Debts  »

On:
In: Elections, Home, Nurses, Politics

By Laura Sayles

MNA Governmental Affairs Specialist
Congratulations MNA Endorsed Candidates!

In Tuesday’s Minnesota Primaries, many MNA endorsed candidates who had primary opponents won their races and will move on to November’s General Election.

MNA was proud to be one of only two unions to endorse Ilhan Omar in her race for the DFL endorsement in House District 60B.  MNA nurses were impressed by the work she has done on winning paid parental leave for Minneapolis city employees, banning environmentally harmful containers, restricting the use of pollinator-harming pesticides, and expanding the use of restorative justice in Minneapolis.  Her story of her entry into politics through interpreting for her grandfather at local DFL caucuses leading to her to work for change at the grassroots level inspired MNA nurses to support her bid for the DFL endorsement. 
… Read more about: MNA Endorsed Candidates Move On to General Election  »

board of directors

On:
In: Allina, Home, Nurses

By Mathew Keller

and

Jordan Ash

Allina is quickly racking up the amount of debt it carries, increasing its total obligation over the past ten years by 60 percent to $880 million. The magic question, however, is why Allina needs $880 million of debt. Why, if it is willing to spend such amounts on expansion and executive pay, is it so unwilling to invest in the healthcare of its nurses?­ As with all things big business, just follow the money.

Money which, in this case, leads directly to Piper Jaffray.  As you recall, Piper

Jaffray has had a huge hand in increasing Allina’s debt obligations, underwriting in conjunction with other banks $1.6 billion dollars in loans to the healthcare company since 1993.
… Read more about: Who is telling Allina to Mortgage the Future of Patient Care?  »

On:
In: Bargaining, Duluth Bargaining, Essentia, Home, Nursing

By Mathew Keller RN, JD

Mathew Keller, RN JD Regulatory and Policy Nursing SpecialistMathew Keller, RN JD
Regulatory and Policy Nursing Specialist

Regulatory and Policy Nursing Specialist

Limousine service, upgraded television sets, nurse/patient “scripts,” gourmet food service, nurse uniform requirements – hospitals all over the U.S. are offering more “customer-centric” patient care in order to increase patient satisfaction scores, which are becoming more and more important for Medicare reimbursements.

These efforts often have unintended consequences.

In the first place, customer-centric interventions rarely (if ever) improve the quality of care patients receive: rather, they merely improve patients’ perceptions of care.
… Read more about: Essentia Health: Listen to your nurses  »

Allina big debt

On:
In: Activism, Allina, Home, Nurses

By

Mathew Keller and Jordan Ash

Allina Health claims it needs to take $10 million out of the pockets and healthcare of its nurses. The question is why, which begs a look at Allina’s finances. A check of Allina’s books, however, makes one question whether the company really is in good hands.

For starters, the amount Allina pays annually to big banks has grown to $60 million dollars a year. Allina’s current debt of $880 million dollars, in fact, represents a whopping 60 percent increase from just 10 years ago when Allina had $550 million in debt.
… Read more about: Allina’s Debt to Big Banks Increases by 60 Percent  »