Unions make deals with hospitals

Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2002 | 9:19 a.m.

Following a busy week of negotiations, a coalition representing 140,000 firefighters, police officers, teachers, Culinary workers and their families has reached deals with Sunrise and MountainView hospitals for health care.

Negotiations are continuing with University Medical Center, Boulder City Hospital and Lake Mead Hospital Medical Center.

Negotiations, which had been ongoing for six months, came to a standstill late last month, with the previous three-year contract set to expire Feb. 1. Gov. Kenny Guinn stepped in after coalition representatives complained they could not pay the up to 20 percent increase the hospitals wanted.

The two St. Rose Dominican Hospital campuses in Henderson and the three facilities operated by the Valley Health System reached deals just hours after the contract expired. Brief extensions on the contract were granted by Sunrise and MountainView so that talks could continue.

Neither side would disclose the exact terms of the deals, but Guinn said the premium increases for the three-year contract would be less than 10 percent. The deals reached with Sunrise and MountainView are along the same terms, a coalition spokeswoman said.

The deal was struck late Friday with Sunrise and MountainView, both owned by HCA, the nation's largest for-profit hospital chain. Many of the coalition members' chosen physicians are affiliated with Sunrise, which made the negotiations even more critical, a spokeswoman said.

"The best news is that there will be no interruption of care," the spokeswoman said.