Nurses’ Dispute With Tenet Over Queen of Angels Is Heating Up
Health Care by Laurence Darmiento
The already nasty contract dispute at Queens of Angels-Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center has gotten even nastier, enough so that both sides are sitting down at the table again.
Tenet Healthcare Corp., owner of the East Hollywood hospital, and the Service Employees International Union, which represents its workers, are holding their first talks in over a month.
The talks came after the state Department of Health Services found the hospital deficient in meeting regulations regarding standards of care following inspections in May and June prompted by union complaints.
One instance involved the improper administration of a drug to an infant in intensive care, and the others involved inadequate staffing of nurses.
The state’s findings were not what prompted the company to return to the table, maintained Tenet spokesman David Langness. “We take any and all DHS inspection reports quite seriously, but we are used to an increased level of DHS scrutiny during labor actions,” he said.
Union spokeswoman Lisa Hubbard disagreed, saying that the deficiencies highlighted ongoing problems at the hospital and likely embarrassed Tenet into trying to settle the dispute. “These are very legitimate concerns that nurses have raised,” she said.
Since the workers’ contract expired May 13, there have been two strikes, and 18 nurses were fired for allegedly participating in an illegal sickout. The two sides are apart on pay issues, and nurses want a say in staffing decisions. The hospital will have to prepare a formal plan for correcting the deficiencies cited by DHS.
County Ills
The California Medical Association is doing its part to help doctor the county’s financially ailing health system though not without its own interests in mind.
The CMA’s leadership did some lobbying in Washington last month for federal funds, and is now pushing to get the Assembly to pass the state Senate’s version of California’s budget.
The Senate version restores an estimated $200 million or more in health care cuts county health programs would have to absorb as part of the Gov. Davis’ plan to close the state’s $24 billion deficit, said Steve Thompson, the CMA’s chief lobbyist.
The cuts would result from reductions in the state’s Medi-Cal program for poor people, and would have the additional effect of trimming nearly 200,000 people from the program’s roles in Los Angeles County alone.
As for doctors, it also would substantially decrease the amount doctors get paid for treating patients in the program.
“There is a whole lot at stake for physicians, but the county also has a whole lot at stake in what happens in Sacramento,” Thompson said.
The association and the California Chapter of American College of Emergency Physicians took the effort public last week with a joint call for passage of the Senate’s budget.
Crisis Mismanagement
This could be a textbook example of what not to do during a public relations crisis.
Good Samaritan Hospital, stung by publicity over an outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease, secretly collected water from the Los Angeles Times and the county Hall of Administration and had it tested for the bacteria to show how widespread the problem is.
The tests came back positive but county health officials said that meant little, pointing out there’s a big difference between finding the bacteria, which is common, and an outbreak in which people get ill.
“I am really puzzled by what they did,” said crisis management expert Mike Sitrick, who has handled public relations for clients such as Gary Winnick. “It’s clear they hoped to show that this is a widespread problem, but they didn’t accomplish it.”
Staff reporter Laurence Darmiento can be reached at (323) 549-5225 ext. 237 or at
[email protected].
Pharmaceutical Buyback
Six months after issuing $144 million in stock to the public, American Pharmaceutical Partners Inc. has spent $30 million of the money to buy back shares.
The privately negotiated transaction, announced on July 29, unwinds a 5.8 percent investment in American Pharmaceuticals by Premier Purchasing Partners, a group purchasing organization for hospitals that invested in the company prior to the IPO.
Premier and other hospital purchasing cooperatives have come under fire for their financial ties to suppliers such as American Pharmaceutical, a maker of generic drugs.
The Los Angeles company said it planned to spend another $6.2 million to buy back its stock, which has suffered from the negative publicity.
It went public in January, selling 9 million shares at $16 each. The stock hit $18 in March, only to fall below $9 a share last month.
It planned to use the proceeds to pay down debt, buy a license from largest shareholder, for working capital, capital expenditures, potential acquisitions and licensing opportunities. On June 30, the company said it had $59.3 million in cash.
American Pharmaceutical issued a statement saying it wanted to boost its stock price.
“We believe that APP’s shares of common stock are undervalued and that our strong financial position make the purchase of our own shares a sound investment at this time,” said the statement by Chief Executive Patrick Soon-Shiong.
Company officials did not return telephone calls seeking comment.
American Pharmaceutical said it purchased 2.9 million shares for $29.8 million, implying a price of $10.28 each. A spokeswoman for Premier Purchasing said the transaction would not affect its existing contracts with the firm.
On July 29, the stock traded on Nasdaq at between $11.05 and $12 each. The stock had surged in the days following American Pharmaceutical’s July 25 report of record second quarter revenues and profits.
Laurence Darmiento
