By Terry Miller
It hasn’t been a good couple of weeks for Huntington Hospital. Actually the year thus far has brought more than its fair share of negative publicity to one of California’s preeminent hospitals.
First, the California Nurses’ Association’s (CNA) unionization efforts were seemingly thwarted by RNs who stood by the hospital and the management of HMH.
Then, more recently, two nurses fired from the hospital claim the sacking was a direct result of their efforts to unionize.
In March, Beacon Media published scores of letters from community members and Registered Nurses on both sides of the issue of unionization.
In the final analysis, there were 539 votes against union representation and 445 in favor, with 175 “challenged” ballots pending resolution.
The election results will not be finalized until all other charges against Huntington Memorial Hospital are cleared.
The California Nurses Association has filed charges against Huntington Memorial Hospital on behalf of two nurses that were terminated in a move CNA insists is retaliatory.
Allysha Almada and ICU co-worker and fellow union supporter Vicki Lin were fired, a move nurses say management made in an effort to appear as if they were conducting generalized firings. The California Nurses Association/National Nurses United (CNA/NNU) announced that it filed an unfair labor practice charge Friday with the National Labor Relations Board.
“On my last annual review, I was rated 98 out of 100,” said Vicki Lin, RN, who has been working in the ICU for two years. “It just doesn’t make sense to let go of nurses who are doing good work-simply because we want to exercise our federal right to work collectively in the best interest of our patients.”
Huntington Memorial RNs began organizing to affiliate with CNA/NNU in May of 2014, after attempts to engage management on patient care issues were rebuffed. “Management responded with an illegal effort to thwart unionization. Despite being issued a formal NLRB complaint—citing seven instances of unlawful conduct—management continued its pattern of union-busting up through the RNs’ attempted election in April of 2015,” the CNA said in a press release.
CNA/NNU ultimately called on federal officials to set aside the election, citing more than 40 violations of federal workplace protections that made a “free and fair election impossible.” Almada testified on a Sunday, July 26, community panel about nurses’ efforts to address patient care issues by organizing as a union—and was fired shortly thereafter.
“Letting Allysha go is not only inappropriate but a clear form of intimidation. Huntington management is trying to intimidate and silence nurses who speak out to improve patient care,” said Marcela Crowley, an RN in the Operating Room. “As nurses we must feel empowered to advocate for our patients and our practice; that is why we stand behind Allysha and call for her immediate reinstatement.”
“The firing of Allysha and Vicki is not a coincidence, it’s a pattern of intimidation,” says Maria Aguirre, RN. “It’s unconscionable to treat nurses this way — especially right now while our hospital is in the middle of a care crisis with the pseudomonas bacteria outbreak.”
The nurses protested outside of Huntington Hospital last week before delivering a petition to reinstate the nurses to President and CEO Stephen Ralph. 200 people signed the document.
Now, a federal agency has joined city, county, and state officials investigating the hospital after three patients contracted a bacterial infection in July.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, known as CMS, conducted an unscheduled audit of the hospital on Monday, which led to multiple surgeries being postponed.
“As with any audit, business as usual can be disrupted,” Ralph said in a statement. “Elective surgeries were temporarily halted last Monday evening and resumed (Tuesday).”
CMS is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
The report will include observations made during the visit, as well as the hospital’s plan of correction for any violation(s) noted.
Additionally, Pasadena Public Health Department, Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, California Department of Public Health and the CDC are investigating the hospital after three patients with pseudomonas had undergone endoscopic procedures in July.
In a press release issued by the city’s health dept. Pasadena is “investigating several incidents that occurred in July 2015 involving Huntington Hospital patients who contracted a bacterial infection possibly related, but not yet confirmed, to endoscopic procedures performed at the hospital.”
The infections involving three patients are not contagious to the general public and there is no risk of a disease outbreak similar to a flu virus or measles, according to Pasadena Public Health Officer Dr. Ying-Ying Goh. The PPHD has no specific patient information available to release and has not confirmed the cause or source of the infection. Huntington Hospital officials are cooperating fully in the investigation.
Dr. Paula Verrette, Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer, Quality and Physician Services at Huntington Hospital, said in a statement issued Aug. 19, 2015, that the hospital quarantined the suspected equipment “after discovering a potential link between bacterial growth in a small number of patients who had undergone an ERCP (Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangiopancreatography) procedure.”
The hospital identified the bacteria as pseudomonas, a different type of bacteria than was detected in similar cases at other hospitals in Los Angeles County. For more information about bacteria in a healthcare setting, go tohttp://www.cdc.gov/hai/organisms/pseudomonas.html. For more information about endoscopic procedures, go tohttp://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/health-topics/diagnostic-tests/ercp/Pages/diagnostic-test.aspx.
PPHD is being assisted by experts from the Los Angeles County Public Health Department. The County recently investigated two similar situations at area hospitals involving bacterial infections and endoscopic equipment. The California Department of Public Health and the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have been advised of the situation and are closely following any developments.
“The PPHD investigation is at a very preliminary stage and there is no additional information that can be provided at this time. There is no timeline for the investigation and all information will be forwarded to all appropriate state and federal health officials for additional review and determination,” according to the city press release.
Regulation and licensing of hospitals is done by the state, not locally, however.
Email requests for further comment from Huntington Hospital were not immediately returned.
