EDMONDS – A member of the union negotiating team representing about 70 percent of Stevens Hospital’s work force called on the hospital board Wednesday to “do everything in its power” to help move negotiations forward.
Representatives of Stevens Hospital and the Service Employees International Union began talks Aug. 4 and held their sixth negotiating session on Wednesday.
“We are at an important moment in our negotiations,” Kathy Pullar, a nurse and member of the negotiating team, told the hospital board.
A union spokesman declined to comment, saying both sides had agreed to limit their statements to the media.
The union has 1,022 members from a variety of the hospital’s work force of 1,400 full- and part-time employees. This is the first time a contract has been negotiated at the same time for the nurses and the professional and technical workers.
Bob Lowy, the hospital’s human resources director, said progress is being made. The contract with nurses expired June 30. The contract for professional and technical workers expires Friday, he said.
The last contract was a three-year agreement. The length of this contract is part of the negotiations, Lowy said.
In other hospital news, Gary Wangsmo, chief financial officer, reported that through Aug. 31, the taxpayer-supported hospital had a net loss of $380,000. Although the loss is smaller than the $1.12 million loss at this time last year, the hospital’s goal this year is to break even.
In part, this year’s losses are due to increases in care provided to people who do not have insurance, which has increased $544,000 this year, he said.
The hospital also has had fewer cardiac and orthopedic cases from patients who are insured through four major insurance companies, which together account for about 30 percent of the hospital’s patient volume, Wangsmo said.
Also, board president Fred Langer announced that Joe Conner of Edmonds, director of facilities design and construction at Seattle University, has agreed to volunteer for the board’s planning committee. It is part of a effort by the five-member board to increase public involvement in the hospital’s operations.
Reporter Sharon Salyer: 425-339-3486 or salyer@heraldnet.com.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
