The good news about Jackson Health System is that it’s begun to turn around its finances. The bad news is that all the easy fixes have been done and won’t be enough in the long run unless the public hospital can find a way to deal with declining admissions, a treacherous healthcare climate in Tallahassee, and a challenging local political and business environment. And that’s before we even talk about worrying trends in the indigent care that is a core public hospital mission.
Category Archives: Political News
Jackson Speaks Out For Ryder
As a union, part of our job is to hold the feet of management to the fire on issues related to quality of care. But we never lose sight of the fact that we must also protect Jackson from external politics that can make that job of providing quality care much harder. For that reason, we have been supporting JHS in its bid to protect Ryder from changes in the trauma landscape that could adversely affect its public mission to provide world-class trauma care to the entire community.
Union Members Testify About Medicaid Expansion
On Feb. 11, SEIU Local 1991 president Martha Baker, RN, and board member Maggie Pena, a social worker, traveled to Tallahassee to testify about the necessity of Medicaid expansion to Jackson Health System.
SEIU Local 1991 Welcomes New Member FRB Member
Jackson Health System nurses, doctors and other healthcare professionals welcomed the news that former state representative and county commissioner Larry Hawkins has been nominated to the Jackson Health System Financial Recovery Board.
Joint Statement in Support of Ryder Trauma Center
SEIU Local 1991 president Martha Baker, RN, and JHS president and CEO Carlos Migoya issued a joint statement in support of Ryder Trauma Center. “Protecting the public’s investment by preserving our legal rights to expand Ryder’s trauma system in an era of competition is the right thing to do.”
Ruling By Florida Supreme Court Legalizes Pension “Tax”
The Florida Supreme Court just upheld the three-percent income tax levied on public employees in the state. In a 4-3 decision, the justices overturned a circuit court ruling that said the Florida Legislature overstepped its authority by ignoring the Florida Constitution in taking three percent from the paychecks of Florida’s teachers, law enforcement officers, firefighters, nurses and other public employees.
Big Victory in Tentative Deal to End Outsourcing of Main ER and Rape Treatment Center
Weeks of discussions have produced a settlement agreement with JHS management that achieves victory on several pending class action grievances, stops the PL deduction and, most importantly, saves the jobs of our doctors and nurse practioners who work in all JHS ERs. The settlement also clears the path for us to begin applying savings made from the efficiencies we are finding toward reducing the 5 percent insurance contribution.
Supreme Court Upholds Affordable Care Act!
Today, the US Supreme Court upheld the Affordable Care Act as fully constitutional, including expansion of care to 32 million Americans, a range of consumer protections from insurance company abuses, the creation of competitive marketplaces in states for individuals to purchase lower cost insurance, and quality of care improvements.
Candidate Screenings Update
On Monday and Tuesday, SEIU Local 1991 representatives joined with other labor unions in the rigorous screening process for candidates that are running for Miami-Dade County Commission and Florida House of Representatives candidates for District 113. Members Denise Glass, R.N. and Omayra Hernandez, R.N. along with Local 1991 Political Coordinator Matthew Land screened these candidatesContinue reading “Candidate Screenings Update”
Tallahassee Update
Senate Budget On Thursday, the Senate approved their $70.7 billion budget on a 33-6 vote. The drastic cuts which had originally been proposed in hospital payments from Medicaid were of grave concern to Jackson and other safety-net hospitals. The proposal adopted Thursday cut Medicaid hospital payments across the board. Jackson Health System was disadvantaged byContinue reading “Tallahassee Update”