Becker's Hospital Review

39 WOMEN'S LEADERSHIP 39 CEO / STRATEGY California lawmakers blast HCA hospital, allege dangerous staffing levels, hostile management By Alia Paavola T hree California lawmakers slammed San Jose, Calif.-based Good Samari- tan Hospital and its parent company, Nashville, Tenn.-based HCA Healthcare, in a letter decrying staffing concerns and hostile management practices, NBC Bay Area reported June 15. e letter was addressed to Good Samaritan Hospital COO Gary Purushotham and HCA Healthcare CEO Samuel Hazen. e letter, signed by state Sen. Dave Cortese, Assemblyman Ash Kalra and Assemblyman Alex Lee, accuses Good Samaritan of having dangerous staffing levels despite its parent com- pany reporting a $3.7 billion profit last year. "ese unsafe management practices appear to be focused on staffing to meet the hospital's fi- nancial goals rather than serve patients' needs," the letter reads, according to NBC Bay Area. During the pandemic, nurses at Good Samari- tan have staged walkouts and protests over what they call unsafe staffing levels at the hospital. "Safe staffing has been a persistent problem throughout the pandemic at Good Samaritan Hospital," the letter reads. "e intensive care unit, where the most severely ill patients are placed, has been frequently out of compliance with limits set by state law on the number of patients that can be assigned to a nurse due to management's failure to properly staff." e lawmakers also took aim at what they call "hostile management practices" in the labor and delivery, antepartum and neonatal intensive care units. Mr. Cortese said that the letter was sent af- ter months of discussions with the hospital and HCA. Mr. Cortese also criticized HCA's decision to close the maternity ward at its Regional Med- ical Center in San Jose. "When they can't deliver essential services like maternity services at a major hospital like Regional, you have to wonder what's go- ing on with their management," Mr. Cortese told NBC Bay Area. "We have offered to meet with the legislators to discuss these issues and reiterate our commit- ment to serving our community," HCA spokes- person Janine De la Vega told NBC Bay Area. "Caring for our San Jose community is what drives us every day and is at the heart and soul of our mission: Above all else, we are commit- ted to the care and improvement of human life." Ms. De La Vega told NBC Bay Area that the company self-reported some staffing issues this spring, but she said they have been corrected. n Minnesota hospital board member removed by city council By Kelly Gooch C ity council members in Appleton, Minn., removed a member of the city-owned healthcare system's board of directors, the West Central Tribune reported. Warren Rau was removed from the Appleton Area Health board of directors June 10. The council's decision was based on Mayor Dan Tosel's al- legations that Mr. Rau created a hostile environment with city administrator Willie Morales; rejected legal advice from city attorney Danielle Olson; published a letter to the editor that did not represent the board; and misrepresent- ed what the hospital board wanted to city officials, accord- ing to the report. Mr. Rau and his attorney, Brian Wojtalewicz, denied the mayor's allegations before a council vote to remove Mr. Rau. The accusations against Mr. Rau were from the city administrator, Mr. Wojtalewicz told council members, ac- cording to the Tribune. "The hidden, overarching motive is simply this: Warren Rau refused to lay down to the attempts by Mr. Morales to wrongfully micromanage and exert power in an area where Mr. Morales was not competent: healthcare finance and administration of a healthcare institution," he said, ac- cording to the newspaper. Council member Gary Borstad told the Tribune he voted in good conscience. Mr. Morales told Becker's June 14 that he had no com- ment about the removal of Mr. Rau. Appleton Area Health also had no comment. According to the Tribune, problems between the city and Appleton Area Health came to light more than a year ago after a city council decision to transfer financial responsi- bility for the ambulance system to the hospital. Appleton Area Health includes a 15-bed critical access hospital, 50-bed skilled nursing facility, medical clinic and 31 independent senior apartments. n

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