Update on the University Hospital Labor Management Meeting

On Thursday, August 28th, we met with management along with our sister unions for our quarterly Coalition Labor Management meeting. At this meeting we learned the following:

1. RN Hiring – UH is making progress in hiring more permanent nursing staff. Many new hires will be coming through orientation shortly – to the point where they will have to double up on their nursing orientations.
2. Navigant Consulting Report – We are told that UH administration has provided much data to the consulting team and expects to be interviewed in 2-3 weeks. The report should be compiled by mid-November.
3. Funding for UH – While no additional monies are available in the State’s budget the Hospital is seeking alternate sources of revenue. They have established deals with at least two new insurance companies (United & Aetna) and are considering an onsite retail pharmacy.
4. 403(b) – Due to the manner in which the Hospital was classified in the reorganization legislation, they cannot be a part of any 403(b). They can, however, continue to participate in the State’s DCRP plan – which acts very much like a 403(b) and is administered by Prudential. If you are interested in deferring some compensation to this plan you can find a Prudential rep in the cafeteria most times. Unfortunately you cannot roll any money over into this plan.
5. Layoffs/Outsourcing – As always, we asked about any plans for more layoffs or outsourcing. This was especially on our minds due to the recent 40 some odd layoffs at the hospital which we are still dealing with. CEO Gonzalez told us that there are no plans currently for any more staff reductions. Administration went on to say that they wanted to “rip the band aid off” and get the layoffs done in one fell swoop – hence the large number of people let go all at once.