CSEA calls for accountability from WMC administration, stop to harmful service cuts

VALHALLA, NY (10/21/2011)(readMedia)-- CSEA today called on members of the Westchester County Health Care Corporation Board of Trustees to put a stop to WCHCC CEO Michael Israel's pattern of chopping of hospital services and jobs, a practice that is harming the level of patient care delivered at Westchester Medical Center.

In a news conference held Friday morning outside the WMC campus, CSEA officials slammed hospital management's practice of avoiding transparency in hospital finances while at the same time publicizing claims about financial hardship.

"Mike Israel's hired guns continue to refuse request after request for concrete financial information filed by CSEA through both the Freedom of Information Law and the Taylor Law, yet they continue to paint a public picture of financial distress to justify cuts in essential medical services that hurt Hudson Valley residents," said CSEA Southern Region President Billy Riccaldo. "By blatantly ignoring state law, they create the impression that they have something to hide with regard to hospital finances. It is time for the hospital Board of Directors to demand accountability and transparency from their high level staff before we see the quality of patient care take a nosedive."

Earlier this week, Israel issued a memo to all hospital employees threatening more layoffs within the facility if hospital unions don't cave on Israel's demand for major concessions. Since the closure of the Taylor Care Center nursing home at the beginning of 2009, Israel has been the force behind the demise of numerous hospital programs in addition to outsourcing other services. The latest on Israel's chopping block was the Comprehensive Psychiatric Emergency Program (CPEP), a program that kept both residents and emergency service providers safe by offering mobile crisis care to residents struggling with mental illness.

"For the past two years, CSEA has been fighting to access specific information about how money is being spent at WMC," said CSEA Westchester County Local President John Staino. "We've wanted to know how they arrive at decisions to close certain departments or outsource certain services. Every request we've made under the Taylor Law or through FOIL requests should have been granted with little delay. In almost every instance, we've been stonewalled with endless requests back and forth for clarification or questions as to why we need the information. As a public facility, these documents should be completely available to us and easily accessible."

The most egregious example of stonewalling occurred when CSEA requested financial data the administration used to justify the closure of CPEP this past summer.

"The hospital attorney, Jordy Rabinowitz, denied the request with no explanation and told us if we didn't like it, we could file a lawsuit," said Staino. "This was just an effort on the hospital's part to waste CSEA's time and money, but when we said we would go ahead and file a lawsuit, we were offered a deal to receive some of the documents in exchange for not going to court. Needless to say, the documents offered were not the specific documents we requested to prove this vital program needed to be closed."

Hospital officials have refused to answer requests from CSEA for information on administrative costs and compensation, Riccaldo said.

"We believe these costs have risen significantly and that before any more discussions of layoffs take place, a detailed account of the current compensation awarded to Israel and his 40-odd vice presidents must be publicized," said Riccaldo. "How many vice presidents does one CEO need when you are cutting the people who keep the hospital sanitized to prevent infection, keep the hospital infrastructure running, and collect the revenue sources that keep the hospital afloat?"

Israel's e-mail to all hospital staff earlier this week alluded to the need for employee givebacks. The CSEA Westchester Medical Center Unit contract does not expire until the end of 2012.

"As we see the protests on Wall Street spread to communities across the country, we are reminded that Mike Israel and his administrative staff are the 1%, while the 99% are our hospital's buildings and grounds workers, lab techs, nursing assistants, and x-ray techs and many others who make this place run," said CSEA Westchester Medical Center Unit 1st Vice President Thomas Thankachan. "You cannot keep cutting those in the 99% and expect this hospital to maintain its reputation of World Class Medicine."

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