Last night, I appeared briefly before the Fort Bragg City Council to discuss the hospital’s financial problems and how we are coping. I had been invited by Council Member Meg Courtney. The Council members and Mayor Dave Turner were very supportive in their comments.
Most of my short presentation focused on the great people who work here at the hospital and the great service they provide to the community.
I also mentioned that one of the actions we are considering — and this has been public for several weeks — is the possibility of eliminating some — not all — part-time positions to reduce costs.
If you tuned into KOZT this morning, you heard reporter Joe Regelski tell listeners that I told the City Council the hospital was going to eliminate “some” part-time positions. However, employees who heard the morning news heard it as “all” part-time employees would be eliminated. This is not true and it is an unfortunate illustration of how things get blown out of proportion, causing rumors.
After the report, personnel received a flood of calls from panicked part-time employees worried about their jobs.
I am sorry this happened because the current situation is stressful enough on employees and the community. It is also why I am writing regular updates in my blog so that employees, patients and others in the community understand exactly what is happening.
Remember, If you have a question about these or other hospital-related matters, email me directly at rhino@mcdh.net.
Union – Management Meeting Update
During a March 22 meeting, the hospital presented the employee union with financial projections for the next few months and for the new fiscal year beginning July 1. The union responded today by saying they will have their own analyst review the hospital’s projections before responding to the hospital’s Financial Improvement Plan. We view this as positive progress.
![MP900438914[1]](http://www.mcdh.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/MP9004389141.JPG "MP900438914[1]")
