Hospitals, workers reach deal

Emily Richmond and Erin Neff

Friday, Feb. 1, 2002 | 11:17 a.m.

With just hours left before their existing contracts expired, a coalition of firefighters, police officers, Culinary workers, teachers and construction workers reached agreements with five area hospitals for medical coverage.

The Health Services Purchasing Coalition negotiates contracts for hospital services on behalf of 140,000 workers and their 180,000 dependents. The coalition's existing contract, signed in 1999, expired today.

Following a "marathon session" of negotiations, tentative deals were struck with the Valley Health System and St. Rose Dominican Hospital, a spokeswoman for the coalition said this morning. Sunrise Hospital, Lake Mead Hospital and University Medical Center officials granted the coalition weeklong extensions on the prior contract so that negotiations can continue, the spokeswoman said.

Gov. Kenny Guinn participated in the negotiations until late Thursday night, when he said even hospitals such as Sunrise and MountainView had reached at least a hand-shake agreement on how to proceed in the coming days.

"I participated on the basis to be sure that the significant individuals were at the table," Guinn said. "My thrust was to emphasize that when something is this critical, you have to work it out."

Guinn said he could not divulge the details of any hand-shake deal, but would say the hospitals had agreed to a three-year deal at rate increases under 10 percent.

"I think from the bully pulpit of the governor you can bring the sides together," Guinn said. "I stressed how fragile the state is now and how important it was that there was give and take from both sides."

Initially he said hospitals wanted increases at 20 percent, and the unions wanted no increase.

"Generally speaking, we're in pretty good shape to extend everything (already reached) to the other hospitals," Guinn said. "We all shook hands."

Guinn said he did not see the need to remain involved as the deadline approaches in coming days for the other hospitals because he is confident the deal will be signed.

Ann Lynch, spokeswoman for Sunrise Hospital, said the coalition presented a counter-offer after midnight that was "seriously being considered."

"The coalition is an important group to us and we want to see this thing resolved," Lynch said. She declined to specify the terms of the counter-offer.

Valley Health System, which operates Desert Springs, Summerlin and Valley hospitals, didn't return calls for comment this morning. Representatives from St. Rose Hospital, which operates two campuses in Henderson, were unavailable for comment.

Neither the coalition nor the hospitals would discuss the terms of the deals. Coalition leaders had said some of the hospitals were seeking up to a 20 percent increase in premiums.

Hospital officials said the rising cost of everything from utilities to medical supplies was forcing them to seek higher payments from the coalition's members.

Las Vegas Fire Capt. Rusty McAllister, a coalition member, said this morning he was relieved that tentative deals were in place.

"It's a good thing that we at least have Valley Health and St. Rose to fall back on if all else fails," McAllister said. "We didn't know where we were going to have to tell our people to go."

Negotiations had been at a virtual standstill in recent weeks as the expiration date of the previous three-year contract loomed. The coalition enlisted the help of three of the state's top-ranking Democrats and also petitioned Guinn for his intervention.

This was the first time in a decade that the coalition was negotiating a new contract without the protection of legislative caps on hospital costs. In 1991 then-Gov. Bob Miller signed legislation that prohibited hospitals from increasing charges for 18 months and then limited price hikes for the next three years at for-profit hospitals. The price hikes allowed were limited to the increase in the medical portion of the consumer price index. The law expired in 1999.

Senate Minority Leader Dina Titus, D-Las Vegas, said a press conference she held last week with two other Democratic leaders may have "been a hammer" over the negotiations.

"When we had a meeting last week we were trying to encourage action without getting directly involved," Titus said this morning.

She, Assembly Speaker Richard Perkins, D-Henderson, and Assembly Majority Leader Barbara Buckley, D-Las Vegas, said last week that even if negotiations are successful, the Legislature may have to create a rate-setting commission for hospital charges.

Titus said she did not know whether the deal reached Thursday evening with the Valley Health System was a good one.

"If there are still really high rates and if they negotiated just a one year contract, instead of three years, I feel like this is going to happen again next year," Titus added.

A rate-setting commission would examine hospital charges to guarantee a reasonable rate of return for the hospitals at the same time it kept fair rates for consumers.