ALAMEDA COUNTY MEDICAL CENTER DEFICIT? WHAT DEFICIT?

Before the "Tennessee turnaround team" Cambio canned ACMC's Chief Financial Officer Robert Strawn, he told SEIU that the Medical Center had a projected budget surplus of $14 million for fiscal year 2004-05. That's right—our efforts to pass Measure A did in fact "stop the bleeding." So why does Cambio continue to repeat its mantra, "We must stop the bleeding, we must stop the bleeding"? Here's the scenario:

1. Cambio eliminates 350 full-time equivalent positions, laying off over 500 full- and part-time staffers, reducing labor costs by $14 million (guess where the surplus comes from!)
2. Cambio offers Alameda County and the Board of Supervisors $10 million to begin paying down the Medical Center's "debt" to the county. Cambio can't use Measure A money to repay the county because the initiative prohibits this.
3. Inpatient stays and outpatient visits continue to decline because there isn't adequate staffing to provide the current level of services.
4. Cambio uses the declining census to justify further cuts in staff and services.

It is always possible that Strawn's budget projections were wrong or overly optimistic. But we won't know until the Board of Trustees makes public its budget for next fiscal year. SEIU Local 616 requested budget information, including next year's projected surplus and Cambio's monthly expenses ($30,000 for the first couple of months, rising to $56,000 in April). Strawn stated at the May 24 Trustees meeting that he could provide the requested information within the week, but he was fired that night. Two weeks later, SEIU is still waiting. Do the math—if next year's surplus equals this year's layoffs, this means that ACMC would have had a balanced budget next year without any layoffs. Of course Cambio wouldn't be able to offer the Board of Supervisors $10 million in debt repayment. In effect, hospital workers are being laid off not to shore up ACMC's financial situation but to begin paying off this long-term debt. And these layoffs will severely impact service to patients, despite the overwhelming support our community recently showed for saving those services by voting to tax themselves through Measure A. If you want to stop the bleeding, you don't hire leeches

Every week Cambio sits down with County Administrator Susan Muranishi and other county reps. We can't tell you who-all attends these meetings, because they take place behind closed doors. But we do know that the County wants its $10 million and Cambio is willing to do the county's dirty work—slash staff and gut services. Cambio has no commitment to county voters who passed Measure A, and doesn't care about providing medical services to the county's most vulnerable citizens. The Board of Supervisors must be held accountable for the growing crisis at the Medical Center. Vote Health is hosting, in place of its usual membership meeting, an emergency community meeting to build a grassroots response to these attacks on the healthcare safety net. SEIU has hired Robert Phillips to help coordinate the community campaign—most of us have worked with him either on the Measure A campaign or, years ago, when he worked in our campaign to overturn the conversion of ACMC to a hospital authority model by the Board of Supes. He was also one of the progressive members of the Board of Trustees who resigned last fall in protest of the Supes' policy towards ACMC. SEIU has also brought on extra staff to coordinate union responses at the worksites. So join us Monday, June 21, at 7pm at the California Nurses Association office, 2000 Franklin St. in downtown Oakland. And take a minute to call your elected representative—the buck stops there!

• Scott Haggerty, Tri-Valley and Fremont, 272-6691
• Pres. Gail Steele, Hayward thru Fremont, 272-6692
• Alice Lai-Bitker, Alameda, downtown Oakland, San Leandro, 272-6693
• Nate Miley, Oakland Hills thru Castro Valley to Dublin, 272-6694
• Keith Carson, Albany thru East/West Oakland, 272-6695.

Victory for Doctors Hospital:

Voters in West Contra Costa County overwhelmingly passed a parcel tax designed to support Doctors Hospital in San Pablo when it gets turned over to the local hospital district by Tenet Healthcare Corporation on July 31. The $52 per year tax will raise $6 million per year and was approved by a whopping 84%.

Announcement:

The "Bridging the Gap for Health Care" march across the Golden Gate Bridge takes place June 19 in San Francisco. Walkers are gathering at 7 am at Crissy Field; the march and rally follow. There will also be food, entertainment, and speakers at Crissy Field (9 am to 1 pm). This walk is part of the Health Care National Day of Action, with similar events in many U.S. cities. Parking is extremely limited, so please use public transportation.

Overtime alert:

Alameda County Sheriff Plummer is charging ACMC overtime for the beefed-up security his staff are providing at John George Psychiatric Pavilion! They work a regular shift first, then a second shift at John George, thus doubling the cost of security to ACMC.

Newsletter committee:
Kay Eisenhower, Brad Cleveland, Paula Friedman (Vote Health's new administrative assistant), Nancy Friedman
Our thanks to CA Nurses Association for their help in producing this newsletter.