Teamsters: Boulder City Hospital treated employee unfairly

By Jean Reid Norman

Saturday, July 4, 2009 | 1:59 a.m.

A second charge of unfair labor practices has been filed with the National Labor Relations Board against the nonprofit Boulder City Hospital.

The Teamsters Union Local 14, which is working to organize the hospital’s 300 nurses, housekeepers and other workers, filed the charge June 30, less than a week after an NLRB judge found the hospital administration had engaged in unfair labor practices from October through March.

The union alleged that the hospital managers have retaliated against nurse Dale Slover for his testimony during a May hearing on the earlier charge.

The judge in that case wrote that the hospital had wrongly interrogated Slover about union activity and that supervisors incorrectly told him that the hospital would close if it were unionized. The judge also wrote that he found Slover’s testimony credible over that of hospital managers.

Attorney Jim Winkler said the hospital is reviewing the decision and deciding whether to appeal any part of it, but declined to comment further.

He did not return calls Thursday about the new charge. Hospital Chief Executive Officer Tom Maher also did not return calls.

Since the hearing, Slover said, supervisors have intimidated him on several occasions.

He was recently dressed down by a nursing supervisor after filing a quality review report, which is supposed to be a confidential way for employees to make concerns that affect patient care known to the administration, he said. In addition, his confidentiality in the matter was breached, he said, sending a clear warning to other employees that if they make their concerns known, they will be upbraided and will not remain anonymous.

He also received a verbal warning from a supervisor, who told him she had information that he was sending messages on Twitter on the job, he said. He does not have a Twitter account and does not take his cell phone into the hospital, he said.

His nursing supervisors also have refused to accept his reports for review until his 12-hour shift has ended at 7:30 p.m., he said, rather than at 7 p.m., so he may leave at the appropriate time.

“Their comment was, ‘Get over yourself,’” he said. “They’re trying to teach me a lesson now. Their goal is to attack my credibility.”

That attitude is what led to the union movement in the first place, Slover said.

Hospital employees have been concerned about staffing cuts that have affected the front line of patient care, he said. While those cuts have been made, no cuts have been made in management, he said.

For example, he said, in a 20-bed hospital that has an average of 10 patients at a time, Boulder City Hospital has four nurses on the day shift -- two in the medical/surgical unit, two in the emergency room, with one on a midshift.

Monday through Friday, he said, the hospital has three nursing managers on the day shift: the chief nursing officer, the acute care manager and a nursing supervisor/education coordinator. In addition, he said, the hospital has two full-time case managers.

The nursing managers do not provide direct patient care, he said, which in a small hospital is hard to justify.

“The staff’s concern is that we have more managers in the patient care areas than working nurses,” he said.

In addition, he said, in the long-term care unit, the administration is trying to cut shifts of the certified nursing assistants, who are responsible for bringing patients water, bathing them and changing the linen. At the same time, he said, the hospital now has both a director of long-term care and a manager of long-term care.

Maher did not respond to a request to confirm the staffing numbers.

“Why are the patient caregivers suffering?” Slover asked.

Slover said he brought the staffing concerns to Maher and the chief nursing officer, but was told, “If the staff is not happy, there’s the door.”

The employees do not hope for any change in their pay with the union representation, Slover said. They just want cuts in staffing to be fair and to have their concerns heard, he said.

“We understand the hospital is going through tough times,” he said. “We are concerned about patient care.

“There needs to be a grievance process. We need to be able to say, ‘I’m not comfortable with this. It’s not safe for the patient.’”