Lawmakers encourage employee input

Valley congressmen want to meet with Forum Health officials.
YOUNGSTOWN -- In a letter to Dr. Keith Ghezzi, Forum Health's chief executive officer, U.S. Reps. Tim Ryan of Niles, D-17th, and Ted Strickland of Lisbon, D-6th, urged Forum to involve its employees in the decision-making process during the company's restructuring.
The two congressmen want to meet with Forum Health officials. Ryan and Strickland expressed their concern with the potential consequences of Forum Health's restructuring on the city of Youngstown, particularly access to medical care if Northside Medical Center and Tod Children's Hospital are closed.
"We will continue to work with our colleagues and the federal agencies that regulate the health-care industry as we work to find solutions to the issues you are facing," the congressmen wrote in a letter Monday.
They said they welcome the chance to meet with Forum leadership and other stakeholders to explore avenues that will best serve Forum Health, its employees and the community that depends on Forum Health services.
Offering help
"We are writing to express our concerns and offer help as Forum Health goes through the difficult process of restructuring," the congressmen wrote. "All hospitals -- especially those located in urban areas -- are facing serious financial difficulties as the result of cuts in government funding, changing market conditions and the growing number of uninsured patients."
Ryan and Strickland said the facilities are vital to the region's economy, both for the 2,000 employees and the $2.4 million in income tax each year that flows into city.
Demands
Meanwhile, health-care workers with the Service Employees International Union District 1199 and the Ohio Nurses Association said they are joining several community-based organizations to demand greater transparency of board operations at Forum Health.
The group has planned a town hall meeting at 6:15 tonight at New Bethel Baptist Church, 1507 Hillman St.
Organizers expect about 700 people to attend to present a unified front to formally request that a contingent of community leaders, including labor, continuously meet with the Forum Health Board of Trustees.