Union wants trustees to get Valley input on decisions

SEIU says Forum needs to be clear about its plans for the hospital system.
By WILLIAM K. ALCORN
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- The Forum Health Board of Trustees' hiring of a New York City financial advisory firm to help it determine alternatives for the immediate future produced a call from an employees' union for more community involvement in the board's decision making.
Alternatives could include sales, mergers or joint ventures. The process is just beginning, and the trustees will continue to assess the board's alternatives during the next two months, Dr. Keith T. Ghezzi, interim president and chief executive officer, said Wednesday in a memorandum distributed to the Forum Health community.
The trustees on Tuesday hired Cain Bros., a firm that Ghezzi said focuses on the health-care and medical services industry and specializes in advising nonprofit clients on mergers, acquisitions, restructuring and valuations.
Ghezzi said because Forum lost slightly more than 20 million in 2006 and projects greater losses in 2007 and 2008, the health-care system's lenders are tightening their scrutiny of its operations.
"We cannot compete without access to capital to invest in our hospital facilities and medical technology. Each Forum facility has an obligation to balance its books. ... Trumbull Memorial Hospital [in Warren] cannot continue to bear the full burden of the system's debts and financial losses. Trumbull's first obligation is to its community, physicians, patients and employees," Ghezzi said.
Here's the situation
Despite achieving significant cost reductions through enhancing revenue and improving operations, the board and senior management have reached a point where further action is needed to meet financial obligations to employees, lenders and the community, he said.
In addition to TMH, Forum also operates Northside Medical Center; Beeghly Medical Park, Boardman; Hillside Rehabilitation Hospital, Howland; Austintown Medical Park; and Elm Road Medical Park, Cortland.
Ghezzi said Forum's mission remains to make quality medical care available to the people of the Mahoning Valley, but that cannot be done with losses in excess of 20 million a year.
"We welcome the cooperation of the Service Employees International Union and the Ohio Nurses Association/Youngstown General Duty Nurses Association in working with us to address Forum's financial challenges and preserve our ability to provide jobs and services in this community," he said.
David Regan, president of SEIU District 1199, the care system's largest union, said the union wants to be part of the solution to preserve Forum Health. But, he said, the union does not like working in the dark with respect to financial information that it says Forum refuses to provide.
Regan said during a media telephone conference Wednesday that SEIU last Friday filed an unfair-labor-practices grievance against Forum with the National Labor Relations Board. He said the grievance is based on threats made by managers during employee meetings that they will get the concessions they want or Forum will be closed or drastically changed.
SEIU is in contract negotiations with Forum. A session was conducted Tuesday, and several more are scheduled in March. The SEIU contract with Forum expires March 31, Regan said.
What's being questioned
The central questions are what is Forum's obligation to the Mahoning Valley, and what are its ultimate plans for the hospital system, the SEIU leader said.
Forum needs to be clear and direct and transparent about what it plans for its facilities, the union leader said. Instead, decisions are being made outside of public view and oversight. Tuesday's decision was a closely guarded secret, Regan added.
Regan charged that Forum has consistently overstated its financial problems and has refused to share critical financial information with the union and the public.
At the beginning of 2006, Forum said it needed 24 million in concessions from its employees, including 7 million from SEIU. Now, after SEIU said it could identify ways to generate 6 million to 8 million in savings and revenues, Forum now says it wants 15 million in concessions from SEIU.
SEIU has said all along it recognizes that the system has financial problems and that a responsible contract can be achieved. But, Regan said, SEIU wants Northside to be a full-service hospital, not a scaled-down version.
"The future of accessible health care, particularly in Youngstown, is at stake," Regan said.
alcorn@vindy.com