Workers warn ‘bigger does not mean better’ when it comes to hospital mergers

February 2, 2023 by

Rachel Hanneman, an intensive care nurse at Fairview Southdale, led a press conference before a Capitol hearing on legislation that would give the state Health Department power to block health system mergers. “Their right to do business ends where our right to accessible health care begins,” she said.

Since M Health Fairview and Sanford Health went public with plans to merge last November, workers have emerged as a leading voice of opposition, warning that further consolidation would not benefit Minnesota patients or workers, only the CEOs already profiting off the health care system.

Members of the Minnesota Nurses Association and SEIU Healthcare Minnesota and Iowa spoke out at recent public hearings held across the state by Attorney General Keith Ellison, whose office is investigating whether the proposed merger complies with state and federal laws.

Union members also joined together with family farmers and medical students at the Capitol earlier this week to support legislation that would give the Minnesota Department of Health authority to approve or to block hospital mergers after a review of their potential impacts.

Opponents of the merger point to data suggesting that a wave of corporate hospital mergers across the U.S. has resulted in higher costs for patients and reductions to the services offered in local communities, but no improvements in the quality of care offered.

“Studies show that health care mergers have caused a 41% increase in prices with no evidence of improved quality of care,” MNA Executive Director Rose Roach said during a press conference before Ellison’s hearing in St. Paul Jan. 10. “What we need is public stewardship and oversight, holding the hospitals accountable to us, the public, not these independent, profit-making entities that focus on generating revenue.”

As for stewardship, neither Sanford nor Fairview has a track record likely to inspire public trust.

M-Health Fairview closed two hospitals in the middle of the pandemic, including the state’s only dedicated COVID-19 hospital. At the same time, CEO James Hereford took a 90 percent raise to more than $3.5 million in annual compensation.

Sanford, meanwhile, paid a $49.5 million golden parachute to disgraced CEO Kelby Krabbenhoft, who spread medical disinformation during the pandemic.

“Our state government has an obligation to pursue lower health care costs, better outcomes for patients and better conditions for health care workers,” Minnesota AFL-CIO President Bernie Burnham said. “This merger will do the exact opposite.

“As health care becomes more consolidated year after year, the only people benefiting are the CEOs. Now Minnesota’s regulators have a chance to draw a line in the sand and tell these regulators enough is enough.”

Rank-and-file union members, meanwhile, have raised concerns that the merger would threaten their collective bargaining rights and drive more health care workers out of the industry at a time when staffing shortfalls are at crisis levels.

Ericka Helling, an intensive care nurse at Fairview Southdale and a 25-year employee of the system, said she was “alarmed that a Minnesota institution could be bought and sold to an out-of-state entity.”

She noted that South Dakota is very different from Minnesota, where Helling’s union, the MNA, has a powerful seat at the table both in bargaining contracts and in oversight of the industry.

“Worrisome for me, as a union nurse, is what happens when an employer buys out a system,” she said. “Is our contract recognized? Do we need to fight all over again for the high standards and protections our contract provides the practice of nursing and patient care?”

M Health Fairview, Helling noted, refused to include language in its nurses’ most recent contract, settled in December, that would have extended the agreement’s terms through any merger.

Cliff Adams, an SEIU member who works at Fairview’s Masonic Children’s Hospital, echoed those concerns, and he called on Ellison and other leaders to focus on “the problems in our own backyard first and foremost,” including staff burnout, safety and racial equity.

“In the last four years we have seen our health care system strip away the caring aspect and monetize the health aspect,” Adams said. “We have seen failure from our employer. We are struggling to tackle these major issues with a large, home-based, Minnesota-oriented organization…

“Bigger does not always mean better.”

Union opposition helped tank a previous proposal to merge the two systems, forwarded in 2013.

Sanford and Fairview have said they hope to complete a merger by the end of this year.

The Attorney General’s office is also collecting public feedback on the merger online.

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Mental health workers strike: ‘Allina does not respect us in the slightest’

October 6, 2022 by

Mental Health workers on strike at Abbott Northwestern hold a rally on the picket line.

Mental health workers at two Twin Cities hospitals wrapped up a three-day strike Wednesday, with union members rallying on the picket line outside Abbott Northwestern and vowing not to be bullied in contract negotiations with Allina Health.

“It has been quite evident that Allina does not respect us in the slightest,” said Jordan Cich, a senior mental health coordinator at Abbott and member of the union’s bargaining team.

The strike impacted over 130 workers at Abbott and Unity Hospital in Fridley, who unionized with SEIU Healthcare Minnesota and Iowa one year ago to bargain for better wages and safer working conditions.

Union members called a strike for the second time since talks began last winter, in part, because Allina has refused to outline their benefits – like health insurance, paid time off and leaves of absence – in the proposed contract. Union Vice President Brenda Hilbrich, a veteran negotiator, called it an extremely unusual approach.

“The employer has taken a very surprising position on not including those things in our contract,” Hilbrich said. “And we are not going to settle a contract without those items included.”

The strike authorization vote drew 98% support, as Allina’s delay tactics at the bargaining table have only added to longstanding frustrations over shortstaffing, safety and lack of respect from their employer, Cich said.

“In January, members of our bargaining team were voicing our concerns about staffing and violence in the workplace, and all Allina replied was, ‘We don’t want to hear any more of your sob stories,’” she recalled.

As they did during a one-day strike last May, Allina workers were poised to walk out this week at the same time as 350 mental health workers at M Health Fairview, who also unionized with SEIU Healthcare last year.

But Fairview workers postponed their strike after productive bargaining sessions last week, and after a 12-hour bargaining session Monday, the bargaining team reached a tentative agreement with the employer on a first union contract.

If ratified, union members at Fairview will see average wage increases around 6% immediately, with another 2.75% increase in March. Other highlights include additional paid time off and “initial grievance procedures to address staffing concerns,” according to the union.

Throughout their union drive and in negotiations, mental health workers have pointed to a shared interest being treated and compensated as professionals. Staffing issues persist, union members have said, because providing mental health care takes a steep toll on workers’ own mental and emotional well being – and sometimes their physical health, too.

Fairview psych associate Jenny Webster, who has 20 years of experience at Riverside Hospital, said winning a first contract is a step toward stabilizing care in her facility.

“Because of our efforts, we reached the best deal possible for our important work, and I am proud of what we accomplished,” said Webster. “So many people have experienced mental health issues themselves or to a loved one, especially during the pandemic. Raising wages and getting a first contract will mean better care for our patients.”

Now, it’s up to Allina Health to get serious about doing the same for mental health staff and patients, Cich said.

“We want to have enough staff to support not only our patients, but each other as well,” she said. “What we do every day can be very dangerous. We deserve to be protected at work, respected at work and compensated for the work that we do.”

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Mental health workers notify Allina, Fairview of intent to strike again

September 26, 2022 by

Mental health workers picketed outside MHealth Fairview hospital during a one-day strike in May

More Twin Cities health care workers are poised to strike for safer hospital staffing.

Mental health workers at MHealth Fairview and two Allina Health hospitals notified the providers today of their intent to open a three-day strike Oct. 3. The bargaining units bring together over 400 essential employees who organized unions with SEIU Healthcare Minnesota and Iowa last year.

The union announced 98% of participating members voted to authorize a three-day strike last month, a sign of increasing frustration with the lack of progress toward first contracts that address their top priorities.

“We are ready to strike because we are facing dangerous staffing levels and it feels like no one in power cares,” said Dana Disbrow, a psychiatric associate at MHealth Fairview. “The current staffing situation is a nightmare, and we are fighting for a fair contract that finally addresses these concerns.”

In addition to staffing shortfalls, union members want contract language that addresses safety issues inside their buildings, including threats of gun violence.

“We face many challenging and risky situations every shift,” said Amanda Reasor, a senior mental health coordinator at Allina Unity Hospital. “We want to be able to have the resources we need to cope with the constant stress that we are under and have guidelines that further protect us from harm.”

Union members raised those concerns in a one-day strike May 24, during Mental Health Awareness Month. But Kellie Benson, senior mental health coordinator at Abbott, said hospital administrators still aren’t listening.

“The longer our employers dismiss the significant concerns raised by staff working face to face with patients in mental health care, the harder it will be to heal, not only for those experiencing mental health crises, but for our entire community,” Benson said.

Union members work as psych associates and behavioral assistants at MHealth Fairview Hospital, and as senior mental health coordinators at Allina Health’s Abbott Northwestern and Unity hospitals.

MHealth and Allina employees bargain at separate tables, and each unit has one scheduled session left before the unfair-labor-practice strike is scheduled to start.

The systems were among those affected by a historic, three-day strike by 15,000 members of the Minnesota Nurses Association earlier this month. Like nurses fighting for contracts that put patients over profits, mental health workers said they are fighting for contracts stabilize their industry for workers and patients

“It is unfortunate that we feel the only way Allina will hear us is if we take drastic action,” Reasor said. “We have made immense strides toward a fair resolution while also demanding fair wages, wholistic benefits, and a safer workplace. We deserve to be treated like the professionals we are, yet Allina has come back time and time again saying ‘not interested’ to some of the most important facets to our contract.

“If we don’t see significant strides on Allina’s part, we will strike.”

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Psych workers at M Health, Allina strike during Mental Health Awareness Month

May 25, 2022 by

Mental health workers picket outside M Health Fairview Hospital in Minneapolis during a one-day strike.

How do you observe Mental Health Awareness Month when the crisis in your workplace continues to worsen?

Over 400 mental health workers in the Twin Cities answered that question yesterday by going on strike for union contracts that address safety concerns and low wages in their industry.

The one-day strike over unfair labor practices brought picket lines to three local hospitals: Allina’s Abbott Northwestern and Unity hospitals and M Health Fairview Hospital, where workers converged for a noon-hour rally with elected officials and other community allies.

Stephanie Stark, a senior mental health coordinator at Allina Health, said members of SEIU Healthcare Minnesota and Iowa decided to strike to raise awareness of the “historic underfunding and lack of respect for mental health work.”

“It’s time for those in charge to take this crisis seriously,” she said. “This work is too important to be ignored and undervalued.”

Mental health workers joined the SEIU in a wave of organizing campaigns last fall, and they are currently bargaining their first contracts with Allina and M Health.

Union members’ top priorities in those talks are respect for their work, safety protections for workers and patients, and a “pay scale in line with our professional degrees,” Unity Hospital senior mental health coordinator Christy Beach said.

Beach and other union leaders said pay increases are necessary to recruit and retain workers in facilities too often overwhelmed by community needs. On the picket line outside M Health Fairview, several workers carried signs referencing the recent conversion of an ambulance bay at the Masonic Children’s Hospital into a shelter for children awaiting mental or emotional health services.

“James Hereford, what did he get, $3.9 million last year?” M Health psych associate Brian McIntosh said, calling out M Health’s CEO by name. “Having these kids in this ambulance bay is not right, and that’s what we’re about to change.”

Workers also described an uptick in violence and safety issues. McIntosh said one co-worker burned through her paid time off after suffering a cracked rib on the job, and another told him the post-traumatic stress from a workplace assault still jolts her awake at night.

Despite dozens of bargaining sessions with the health systems, workers’ safety and wage demands have fallen largely on deaf ears, prompting a near-unanimous vote to authorize the strike before Mental Health Awareness Month ends.

“We are showing those in charge that we are serious about making change in our industry,” Stark said.

Mental health workers picketed outside MHealth Fairview hospital during a one-day strike in May

Several elected officials joined the picket lines and the rally at M Health Fairview. State Sen. Erin Murphy (D-St. Paul), a registered nurse, told mental health workers that by advocating for themselves, they are advocating for their communities.

“It is up to you, in the end, to take care of the patient,” Murphy said. “It’s not the people in the corner office that are doing that work. It’s you, and you need to be protected and staffed in such a way that you can do your jobs with skill and care.”

May is Mental Health Awareness Month, when advocates push for increased support for the 1 in 5 Americans who live with mental illness or a substance-use disorder, and seek to reduce the stigma associated with them, according to the American Psychiatric Association.

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Union members urge hospitals to address staffing shortfalls with higher wages

December 6, 2021 by

Hospital workers, clockwise from top-left, Cliff Adams, Emilee Greskowiak, Lolita Granados and Steele Miller joined a virtual press conference on staffing shortfalls.

About 8,000 health care workers have publicly offered to renegotiate their union contracts with Twin Cities hospitals in an effort to help address staffing shortfalls that, workers warn, are only getting worse.

Members of SEIU Healthcare Minnesota announced the offer Nov. 30 in a virtual press conference, during which they described the impact short staffing has had on patient care in the hospitals where they work.

Emilee Greskowiak, a nursing assistant at United Hospital in St. Paul, said understaffing impacts patient comfort, safety and hygiene. She noted that it has been nearly two years since she’s had time to help her most patients shower.

Recently, Greskowiak added, she was the only aide serving a 25-patient ward, where registered nurses were understaffed, too.

“All I can do is empty trashes and let nurses know when people are drowning – having codes and rapids and struggling to survive through their traumas,” she said. “Nurses are barely getting their meds in by the end of shift, let alone proper care and hygiene that families desperately need to … become healthy.”

Some patients don’t get a bed at all, added Cliff Adams, a nursing station tech at M-Health Fairview Riverside Masonic Children’s Hospital. He said his unit, which treats patients with cancer and blood diseases, could not fill eight of its 24 beds recently because the “caregiver-to-patient ratio wasn’t adequate to safely provide care” to more than 16 patients.

“That meant eight beds – eight kids – did not have an opportunity to be properly cared for,” Adams said.

Understaffing is not a new problem at metro hospitals. Workers pointed to several reasons their co-workers have walked away or scaled back their hours in recent years, including the additional pressures created by the COVID-19 pandemic, once again surging in Minnesota.

But while workers see their bosses asking them to skip breaks, extend their shifts and postpone paid time off, what they don’t see from management is a plan to deal with the problem.

“It’s caused tension among staff members because we don’t have enough staff to go around,” said Lolita Granados, a clinical support specialist at Children’s in Minneapolis. “We’re missing sleep, we barely have time to eat, and we are tired.

“It is currently worse than I have ever experienced this before. We need help and support, and I would like the hospitals executives who are working from home … to step up.”

In letters to those executives, SEIU Healthcare leaders pointed to other hospitals in Minnesota that have reopened union contracts to increase wage rates and write in other incentives aimed at attracting and retaining workers, and they requested metro facilities do the same.

Twin Cities hospitals settled new, three-year contracts with SEIU members earlier this year, but wages were a sticking point in negotiations. Some 4,000 workers at United and other Allina locations were poised to strike before reaching an 11th hour agreement with the provider.

Those agreements call for wage increases ranging from 5% to 7.5% over three years. But with inflation on the rise, it’s already clear to workers like Methodist Hospital ER tech Steele Miller that hospitals need to do more.

“People are leaving these jobs for jobs that are less traumatic, less stressful, less exhausting and that pay more,” Miller said. “We are not greedy. We just need to be able to take care of ourselves while we take care of other people.”

Workers also noted that many hospitals are already paying temporary workers – so-called “travelers” – higher wages to deal with the shortage, and they called out executives like M Health Fairview CEO James Hereford, whose annual compensation has ballooned to over $3 million. Allina CEO Penny Wheeler recently topped the $2 million mark.

For Hereford, Wheeler and other hospital executives, Greskowiak offered some pointed advice.

“If you give us better pay and benefits, maybe you’ll keep and retain the staff that you have – and then also get more staff to help us get through this hard time,” she said. “Everyone’s traumatized and underpaid and missing their family and doesn’t want to do this anymore.

“It’s exhausting, and you’re burning out your staff left and right.”

 

Filed Under: Organizing, Union Events Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

After landslide union election, M Health psych staff ready to bargain for wages, safety

September 28, 2021 by

(SEIU photo)

A resounding “union yes” vote, announced today, gives 350 psychiatric associates at M Health Fairview momentum as they look to negotiate better wages, safety protections and a voice in decisions that affect their jobs.

SEIU Healthcare Minnesota, which backed the essential workers’ organizing drive and will represent them in bargaining, said 98% of participating workers voted in favor of unionization. Balloting took place by mail, with votes counted earlier today.

Psychiatric associates have been discussing the idea of forming a union for at least 10 years, union supporters said in a virtual press conference held hours before the vote tally. Eric Immler, who works in M Health Fairview’s adult inpatient units, said his excitement was “hard to put into words.”

“Having a seat at the table, feeling respected is going to allow me to better focus on my patients and collaborate with my co-workers – and [retain] good employees,” Immler said. “We hope Fairview comes into negotiations after we certify our union realizing how serious we are and in good faith.”

Like many workers forming unions recently, M Health Fairview employees said the COVID-19 outbreak gave their campaign a sense of urgency. Senior psychiatric associate Andrea Rivas described working in small, confined areas with patients who sometimes refused to wear masks, and uncertainty over access to personal protective equipment.

But Rivas and her colleagues also pointed to increasingly dangerous working conditions in their field. Health care workers account for the majority of all nonfatal workplace injuries in the U.S., and injury rates are highest among workers in psychiatric and substance-abuse facilities.

Rivas is still dealing with the effects of a concussion she suffered nearly eight months ago, when she was “punched repeatedly” after rushing to the aid of a co-worker who was being assaulted. Erin McCormick, who works at M Health Fairview’s intensive treatment center for children, said people in her line of work are “in constant fight-or-flight mode” and burn out quickly as a result.

“During my time, I’ve been head butted and spent the night in the ER,” McCormick said. “While I was pregnant, I also got punched by a patient. Luckily, I turned at the last second and the patient punched my arm, but I was constantly worried about my baby’s health.”

To reduce violent incidents, workers said, they will bargain hard for contract language that requires safe staffing levels and puts preventative protocols in place, both before and after violent incidents.

The fledgling unit also hopes their first contract not only will raise wages, but ensure equitable pay. During their organizing drive, McCormick said, psychiatric associates discovered a pay gap between men and women.

“Having an open conversation about pay and a contract where everything is formalized will help to address these issues,” she said.

SEIU Healthcare Minnesota already represents nearly 2,000 workers in the M Health Fairview system. Psychiatric associates will build their own contract, SEIU Healthcare Minnesota said, that addresses the professional needs of the “most patient-facing staff in the mental and behavioral health field.”

Rivas said she believes giving psychiatric associates a seat at the table will be good not just for workers, but patients too.

“We interact closely with patients during their entire inpatient treatment,” she said. “Despite our close contact, we are left out of important meetings, and our opinions aren’t asked about patient concerns. This not only feels disrespectful, but it also means we are missing out on important information that could affect our clients.”

“Mental health is so important, but our society doesn’t seem to value it or the work done to help support those in crisis,” McCormick added. “We’re joining together in our union to help show that our patients and this work is important.”

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As hospital cuts loom in St. Paul, workers demand accountability, engagement from M Health Fairview

October 22, 2020 by

MNA member Melanie Timpano (L) and SEIU Healthcare Minnesota member Cleveland Donazal tape a list of demands to the Ramsey County Court House door, warning county board member to proceed with caution as they partner with M Health Fairview on using Bethesda Hospital as a temporary shelter for people experiencing homelessness.

With hundreds of jobs at stake, union nurses and health care workers are sounding the alarm on M Health Fairview’s plan to slash services at two St. Paul hospitals and close 16 clinics across the region.

The health system announced plans this month to close Bethesda Hospital, the only COVID-19 specialty hospital in the area, and reduce services at St. Joseph’s. Workers accused management of using the COVID-19 crisis as cover to justify eliminating services on which St. Paul community members rely.

“It is unthinkable that an urban center like St. Paul stands to lose so many patient services at once,” said Rose Roach, executive director of the Minnesota Nurses Association.

The announcement came just two weeks after Children’s Hospital announced plans to limit services on its St. Paul campus. Roach noted that, combined, the announcements threaten patients’ access to “operating rooms, pediatric ICUs, cardiac, epilepsy, chemical dependency, and diabetic services.”

“The loss of resources will again force patients, especially among communities of color, to have to travel to health care, instead of finding it available to them,” she added. “This is not health equity. This is tragic.”

Jamie Gulley, president of SEIU Healthcare Minnesota, with 200 members at Bethesda and St. Joseph’s, called the likely damage to health care access in St. Paul “insurmountable.”

“This move is incredibly shortsighted, and we know it will have long-lasting effects to both healthcare workers and patients,” he said. “Our state cannot afford to have this plan move forward without a much deeper analysis on the impact to our community.”

The unions planned to lobby state and local lawmakers, including Gov. Tim Walz, to put the rapidly approaching closures on ice until community members have an opportunity to provide more feedback.

M Health Fairview this week finalized an agreement to lease Bethesda to Ramsey County as a transitional shelter for people experiencing homelessness. But unions urged county officials to push for transparency and accountability in their agreement with the health care system.

“We support any real effort to provide housing for the homeless,” MNA member Melissa Kadrmas, a registered nurse at St. Joseph’s, said. “However, we don’t trust M Health Fairview, and we worry that their ill-thought-out plan is to provide them cover for closing a facility, laying-off nurses and eliminating key services. We are interested in seeing long term results, not just a bandage.”

The Ramsey County Board of Commissioners approved the Bethesda lease during a meeting Monday, after union members marched from the hospital to City Hall with a list of demands, many focused on meeting health care needs in the urban core.

Speaking during an outdoor press conference, Roach called for a statewide moratorium on health care cuts during the pandemic, and said pitting a health care crisis against a housing crisis creates a “false choice.”

Workers also had a warning for county commissioners: M Health Fairview “has not been a responsible employer or a trustworthy community partner,” Roach said. Cleveland Donazal, a lead storekeeper at Bethesda and SEIU member, added: “We want M Health Fairview to be held accountable.”

Health care workers from St. Joseph’s at the press conference called for deeper analysis of what M Health Fairview’s cuts will mean for people seeking care in St. Paul. That means doing more that just paying “lip service” to community engagement, St. Joseph’s nurse Melanie Timpano said.

“These closures will have an impact metro wide at a time when we already don’t have enough beds, when we already don’t have enough staff and at a time when nurses are exhausted,” she said.

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Council members push back against hospital cuts

February 11, 2020 by

Council Member Rebecca Noecker, whose ward includes St. Joseph’s Hospital, called Fairview’s proposal to close the hospital “heartbreaking” during a City Hall press conference yesterday.

Standing alongside nurses from Bethesda and St. Joseph’s yesterday, three St. Paul City Council members called on Fairview to reconsider steep cuts at the downtown hospitals and, instead, partner with the community in preserving care for St. Paul’s urban core.

“The services, the jobs and what it means for our community – we cannot do without them in downtown,” said Rebecca Noecker, whose second ward includes St. Joseph’s.

Fairview confirmed in December it is weighing several proposals to cut costs, and permanently closing St. Joe’s, the state’s oldest hospital, is among them.

At nearby Bethesda, Fairview already has moved to cut the facility’s admissions capacity from 90 to 50 beds.

Together, the proposed cuts amount to an “abandonment of the central city,” Council Member Jane Prince said, adding that Fairview executives “have to answer” for “a very serious decision that they are making to walk away from downtown St. Paul.”

To that end, Prince, Noecker and Dai Thao, whose first ward includes Bethesda, plan to introduce a resolution at the council meeting tomorrow opposing the hospital cuts, and demanding Fairview be more transparent and inclusive of community leaders in whatever service reductions play out at the facilities.

At a press conference inside City Hall yesterday, council members did not mask their frustration with Fairview’s failure to engage community leaders before announcing the proposed cuts. Thao said he learned what was happening from media reports in December.

“This is not acceptable,” Thao said. “When health care corporations make decisions without the community being a part of it, we know it’s not about delivering care. We know it’s about delivering profits.”

Antoinette Fiagbedzi, a nurse at Bethesda, calls out Fairview for putting profits before patients.

Noecker acknowledged “systemic issues” facing Fairview, like limited access to quality health insurance and mental-health treatment, but said Fairview executives have so far ignored offers to work collaboratively toward solutions that benefit the provider and the community.

“We are all standing around holding this safety net together, and we cannot have one of our critical partners unilaterally drop their side of the safety net and walk away from that conversation,” Noecker said. “We all need to stay in it together to solve these issues.”

The Minnesota Nurses Association, which represents nurses at both Bethesda and St. Joseph’s, has begun negotiations with Fairview to ensure layoffs are handled according to the union contract, MNA President Mary Turner said.

But Turner warned the cuts at Bethesda, one of only two long-term rehabilitation hospitals in Minnesota, won’t just be felt by hospital staff. Closing St. Joseph’s, which devotes 100 of its beds to inpatient mental-health care and serves the city’s high-poverty neighborhoods, would expand the ripple effect even further.

“There is no way we can do without Bethesda and no way we can do without those 100 phychiatric beds in St. Joe’s,” Turner said.

Nurses at the press conference questioned Fairview’s decision to put care for the most vulnerable members of the community on the chopping block when the nonprofit health system sits on hundreds of millions of dollars in hedge fund and other financial investments – and recently raised CEO James Hereford’s pay to $913 an hour.

“Health care is not about if you have income or not,” Bethesda nurse Antoinette Fiagbedzi said. “When you care about people, you don’t think about their income. You don’t think of whether they have insurance or not. You do it out of love.

“That’s what we stand for, that’s what my colleagues stand for.”

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