There’s a lot to keep up with in the news nowadays. Here’s a summary roundup of recent news stories that are particularly pertinent to SHARE members . . .
Donations to the Ease Fund
Kudos to CEO Eric Dickson for committing his full income to the Ease Fund. MassLive reports: “During the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Eric Dickson, the CEO of UMass Memorial Health Care, and Dr. Cathy Jones, Dicksons’ wife and a UMass Memorial physician, are donating all of their paychecks to the health care system’s employee assistance fund.” Other hospital leaders, including Chief Administrative Officer Doug Brown, have made similar pledges.
The Ease Fund is administered and distributed by the Employee Assistance Program to provide aid. The fund is one of their many ways to help employees of UMass Memorial through financial hardship, The EAP website also provides many other COVID-19 related resources.
Locals Focus on Global Problems
We’re excited to recognize the work that’s being done in our back yard toward the prevention and treatment of coronavirus. M2D2, a collaboration involving UMass Medical School and UMass Lowell, has shifted much of its focus to potential vaccines, testing research, and medical device design related to COVID-19, according to the UMass Lowell News.
Meanwhile, the Boston Globe reports that UMass Memorial is one of three hospitals in Massachusetts to receive approval to launch the first US clinical trial of a Japanese flu drug that could be used to treat COVID-19.
Some Good Financial News at UMass Memorial
In this recent interview on the Greater Boston television show, UMass Memorial CEO describes our preparedness for COVID-19 here in Central Mass.
UMass Memorial has had some good fortune and been forward thinking in its approach to keeping its employees paid for the time being. In a recent town-hall meeting, hospital leaders described how last year’s sale of its pharmacy management joint ventures has provided liquid assets to help our hospital respond to the crisis. The funds had not yet been re-invested in the stock market (phew!). The investments in much-needed equipment and facility upgrades will still need to come from somewhere, but that cash-on-hand helps our hospital to be somewhat more nimble than it might otherwise have been.
In other fortunate financial news, the Telegram reports that “Mapfre Insurance. . . announced a donation of $2.3 million across five Massachusetts-based organizations – including UMass Memorial Health Care and Harrington HealthCare. The insurance company has committed $38 million worldwide to medical providers and communities.”
COVID-19 and the Financial Health of Hospitals
The broader news across US hospitals is more grim. The Guardian reports that the United States for-profit healthcare sector has cut thousands of jobs in the wake of the coronavirus.
Becker’s Hospital Review recently pointed to another disturbing cost-cutting measure, writing that “Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare, which operates 65 hospitals across the U.S., is postponing match payments to employees' 401(k) savings plans to direct more resources toward hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Although SHARE was encouraged to see the precedent set as AFSCME Council 93 and Governor Baker came to an agreement about hazard pay for some of their union’s hospital members, we also note this report in Becker’s that Boston-based Partners Healthcare has announced that it will not make hazard pay available to frontline staff.
To Be Continued. . .
SHARE will continue to keep its eye on trends, as we keep our focus on the day-to-day life of our own hospital. Right now, this especially includes UMass Memorial’s Labor Pool program. This redeployment system has been another major factor in the hospital’s ability to keep employees on the books. Although the Labor Pool is proving to be a complicated process to implement, and continues to evolve, it’s helping to maintain jobs . . . and to provide help to those areas where the workloads are increasing, where patients and the SHARE members who care for them most need the help.
As always, thank you for the work you do to keep our hospital, our community, and our union running strong.