Rowan Update: Virtua Affiliation with Rowan SOM

Last year Rowan SOM signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) with Virtua to affiliate. The HPAE, CWA and AAUP are working together and have asked Rowan for a meeting to discuss this “affiliation”. We have sent Rowan information requests, we have filed OPRA requests and we are considering filing Unfair Practice Charges. We have received some of this info and are waiting for more. The Unions want to ensure that your jobs remain union, public employee, Rowan University jobs. Dates have not yet been offered for us to meet.

Rowan Labor Relations sent an email to the Unions stating there has been some misinformation and Rowan will be holding meetings with employees to clear things up, and further stated:

“To clarify, Rowan is still in the planning phases as to how to implement this affiliation and does not have firm, established plans as to upcoming steps.”

We are hearing from the members who work on the clinical side of SOM that they have attended these meetings. They are being told that in a year to a year and a half, they may no longer have Rowan jobs and can apply with Virtua or transfer within Rowan. Our members are communicating that this will impact IT, Managed Care, Accounts Receivable, Pre- Registration, Patient Services, Cash Departments and Payment Posting. Rowan representatives stated that they will have details in July and sign off in December of 2022. The leadership from Rowan in attendance at those meetings were Dean Cavalieri, Terri Dryer, Henry Oh, Keith Burkhardt, Craig Young, and Carla Granger. We hear that there is an emergency meeting today with the Department Chairs.

The information at the meetings is different than the letter sent to the Unions. The three Unions are working together to protect your jobs. Please share information and concerns that you have about the affiliation. We will update you further when we sit down with Rowan.

Deborah Cruz

Rowan Chair, HPAE local 5094