UMC workers, patients rally against personnel, service cuts

Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2003 | 11:09 a.m.

University Medical Center employees and patients rallied outside a UMC Quick Care Center on Monday to tell Clark County commissioners to reverse cuts in staff and service hours that were announced two weeks ago -- and to block further cuts.

Dr. George Oehlsen, a staff physician at McCarran Quick Care, said the rally came in response to patient concerns that his center and others will see further cuts in hours and staff. About 180 people attended the rally, including patients and medical and administrative staff members.

"They've asked how to get involved," Oehlsen said.

Vicky Hedderman, a UMC office specialist and president of Service Employees International Union Local 1107, which represents hospital rank-and-file, said the cuts will hurt the ability of the county's system to deliver health care.

"People in Las Vegas already have trouble getting health care," Hedderman said. "These cuts make it worse."

She said the union will support any cuts that come from a 10-member citizens task force, appointed by the county, that is expected to meet over the next six months.

On Feb. 5 the county announced the elimination of 128 vacant positions and 34 layoffs, among them 15 Quick Care doctors and seven nurses. The county also said the McCarran Quick Care will cut its hours from 24 hours, seven days a week to 8 a.m. to midnight daily.

The cuts would save almost $11 million annually for the financially troubled system, County Manager Thom Reilly said. In December the County Commission approved a $38 million infusion to cover mounting past-due bills and monthly deficits, which have run $2 million to nearly $4 million in the last five months.

Reilly said Monday that the county hospital will still run $15 million in the red for the year unless further "efficiencies" can be found. He said reports from three consulting firms, which could come back within the next two months, will guide the county's hand in future cuts.

The task force, he said, is directed at defining UMC's role in the community, not recommending fiscal policy. However, the questions of the hospital's financial survival will likely color those discussions, scheduled to begin today at the Clark County Government Center.

One asset that UMC staff and doctors have that county leaders do not have, at least in volume, is access to patients. The lobbying effort has generated signatures on petitions to keep the Quick Cares open and resist cuts.

Reilly said the union's reports, circulated widely, that further cuts will shut down or sell county Quick Care centers are "unethical."

"I will support any dialogue on the hospital, but I would be very concerned that people are using customers, patients, and suggesting that things are going to close when no decision has been made there," Reilly said.

The cuts already announced came down most heavily on the administrative side of the public hospital system, leaving core functions untouched, he said. But the reduction of hours at McCarran Quick Care and other staff cuts were due to a fall-off in the number of patients systemwide, he added.

"The majority of cuts were in response to a 15 percent decrease in the number of patients," Reilly said. "Is the suggestion that we keep people employed even if there isn't the work?

"That doesn't mean that if that if the volume picks up, the positions can't be re-established."

County management and union officials also fired broadsides over other pay issues. The union is asking the county for a 4 percent cost-of-living raise in contract negotiations.

Reilly said the $15 million deficit this year factors in a 2 percent cost-of-living increase. A 4 percent increase would boost the hospital deficit to $25 million or more, he said.

But fliers distributed by the union at Clark County government buildings argue that a bill now in the Legislature would raise county officials' pay by more than 50 percent. Top administrators, judges and other officials have gotten pay raises far above the 4 percent level, the union notes.

Reilly on Monday also raised the issue of physician salaries, arguing that doctors at UMC make an average of $165,000, $20,000 more than the national average. He also said benefits for UMC doctors total almost $30,000, nearly triple the national average.

He cited four national surveys for his data.

Oehlsen, however, said the average pay for the unionized UMC doctors is about $155,000 and said the number is in line with the national average. He also argued that the average for administrative doctors -- medical directors in the UMC system -- is closer to $180,000.

"There are certain county employees who make far in excess of what doctors make and work fewer hours and don't know what the patients are feeling," Oehlsen said.

One issue that has not yet divided the county leadership and the hospital workers is the contribution that comes from the region's private hospitals. The union has argued that the for-profit hospitals in the county need to step up their contributions to care for the uninsured and indigent by about a third.

Reilly said he wants to see what the consultants have to say, but adds that he welcomes discussion on the issue. The private hospitals, however, have argued that they already contribute their share and are not eager to give more.