The other case of "reverse Robin Hood" on the HCMC restructuring issue involves the shift of human resources compensation from front line employees to hospital administrators.
The HCMC Governance Task Force report quotes in full a study that says that the terrible problem with being a public hospital is that civil service employees have too many protections and are paid at the market rate. It also bemoans the open meeting laws that leave the hospital administrators visible and accountable to public scrutiny. In the same section of the report that says privatization would free the hospital to compensate on pay and benefits below market rate, the task force called for relief from the "compression factor" caused by civil service rules. Administrators' pay is capped so that they cannot be paid more than the governor of the State of Minnesota. (I believe the legislature has already taken action to allow the cap to be exceeded on HCMC's CEO and COO.) The report implies that more managers should be able to be compensated above the Governor's pay. HCMC, Hennepin Faculty Associates, and Hennepin County paid for a national consultancy firm (McKinsey) to evaluate HCMC's fiscal crisis. When the consultants made their public presentation to the county board, you could hear a real catch in the voice of the consultant when he bemoaned ecomomic factors that force the county "to pay market rate" for their nurses. I thought the poor guy was going to break down and cry at the injustice of it all. In a recent letter to the editor in the Star Tribune from a lawyer who represents management in hospital contract negotiations, the headline was "Want More Jobs? Cut Pay" (Or something like that. Sorry, I don't have it in front of me.) But clearly, pay and benefit cuts to nurses and other hospital employees will simply go to pad the paychecks of hospital administrators rather than going to patient care. I agree, the Robson article was great. The solution is that legislators like John Marty (who helped to kill bipartisan legislation that would have allowed HCMC to bill counties when they send their uninsured residents to HCMC for unreimbursed care) need to act with the integrity to acknowledge that their own counties must share in footing the bill. David Finke, RN, OCN (Central Neighborhood) Hennepin Comprehensive Cancer Center President, Hennepin County Nurses Association Quoting Dean Lindberg <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>: > It would be an indescribable cruelty to many Minneapolis and area > residents if Hennepin County closes or dumps it's medical center. > > City Pages did a fantastic story on Hennepin County Medical Center: > http://www.citypages.com/databank/24/1197/article11646.asp > > Britt Robson really nailed it, especially in describing the > professionalism and dedication of the staff. I know he's got it right > because I have seen that for myself; When my private insurer told me to > get lost, HCMH gave me the help I needed at the time. In retrospect, > after paying premiums to my private insure for 15 years and never > submitting a claim, telling me to get lost and forcing me to go to the > provider of last resort was the best thing they ever did for me. > > I could go either way on the stadium issue. But if Hennepin county, the > city of Minneapolis, the legislature and governor dump HCMC, and then > ever lift a finger support a new stadium, it would be the most > despicable example of governmental reverse Robin Hood ever perpetrated > on our community. > > Dean Lindberg > Minnehaha REMINDERS: 1. Think a member has violated the rules? Email the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
