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Pishkur awaits action by SEIU
Every Forum facility has to be financially viable on its own.
HOWLAND — Walter Pishkur, head of Forum Health, said he would not hesitate to ask the U.S. Bankruptcy Court to invalidate the health-care system’s contract with service workers at Northside Medical Center in Youngstown if an agreement on a concessionary contract is not reached soon.
“We will reach out again to SEIU [Service Employees International Union District 1199] this weekend,” Pishkur said.
“I respect SEIU and the Youngstown General Duty Nurses at Northside. What was asked of them is more significant than that of employees at the other hospitals. But, the fact is, we are in bankruptcy, and that gives us another avenue,” he said.
All of Forum’s union-represented employees, except the 638 represented by SEIU at Northside, have agreed either to tentative contracts or ratified new contracts, he said.
Pishkur called the difference of opinion between Forum and SEIU on the true annual operating deficit at Northside a “misunderstanding.”
He said it is true Northside made money in April, but the hospital still has an operating deficit for the year thus far.
SEIU has said the annual deficit was about half of the $22 million to $25 million that Forum claims.
Pishkur said the ultimate goal is to save all three hospitals — Northside, Trumbull Memorial Hospital in Warren and Hillside Rehabilitation Hospital in Howland — with the least impact possible on employees.
He said, however, each facility has to be financially viable on its own.
For Northside, that means achieving a $30 million annual turnaround by cutting costs and increasing revenues. The employees’ share of that $30 million was established at $10 million — $4.4 million for the nurses and $5.6 million for SEIU represented employees.
Pishkur said progress is being made at establishing satellite family practitioner offices in Hubbard and Newton Falls, and he expects them to be up and running in August. Forum is continuing to investigate sites in Boardman and at another undisclosed site in Mahoning County, he added.
alcorn@vindy.com