July 9, 2010 Update:  Medical Center Chief Michael Israel Lays Off 130 Workers including the Inmate Care Staff   

Management Failure results in Experienced Patient Care workers to suffer loss of jobs; Families Disrupted.
Westchester County Executive Astorino Awards contract to for-profit firm with history of costly lawsuits and deaths.   

 

 part of the LoHud article linked above:

This round of layoffs comes after hospital officials and county lawmakers failed to agree on a contract for the hospital to continue treating the county jail inmates.

The medical center for years ran a nationally recognized medical unit at the jail in exchange for $12.5 million in county support, which included utilities and maintenence of the campus that the hospital and the jail share.

The arrangement had the medical center running the program at an annual $2.5 million loss, Westchester Medical Center Chief Executive Michael Israel said.

Israel tried unsuccessfully to negotiate with the county executive for more money. The county contracted with another vendor from Tennessee.

pdf version at bottom of this page

 

June 18, 2010 Update:  Astorino vetoes legislators on new bids for inmate medical care   pdf version at bottom of this page

 

June 1, 2010 Update: County of Westchester lawmakers voted to let the Westchester Medical Center continue to treat county jail inmates through the end of 2010.  pdf version at bottom of this page

May 28, 2010 Update:   County Announces Intent to Issue Contract to Nashville firm for Inmate Care and to Allow Layoffs of Medical Center Experienced Staff click for article    pdf version at bottom of this page

 

 

 

 

April 3, 2010

The Westchester County administration under County Executive Robert Astorino seeks to hire a private company to provide required health care for county jail inmates after Westchester Medical Center said it will refuse to do so amid 2010 cutbacks in county taxpayer subsidies to the hospital.

The move may impact as many as 80 long time professional employees who are members of Unit 9201 of the Civil Service Employees Association and the New York State Nurses Association. It is unclear how many jobs, if any, would be lost in the privatization. 
Past efforts to privatize this important work were human and financial failures marked with deaths. 

 

The Apr 4, 2010 Story in Journal News is linked below as a pdf file:  (scroll down)

 

CSEA 9201 President Peter Piazza calls this effort financially ill advised.   

"I don't think the county executive is going to find that he's going to get these services provided any cheaper than what (hospital Chief Executive Officer) Michael Israel is doing it for, no matter where he goes and shops," Piazza said Tuesday.

Correctional Health Services staff traveled to White Plains the evening of April 5, 2010 to appeal to the Board of Legislators to urge negotiations between the County and the Medical Center.

The Apr 7, 2010 Story in Journal News is linked below as a pdf file:  (scroll down)

"There's no reason in the (medical center's) letter as to why they decided to terminate, so you'd have to go back to them and ask them why," said Ned McCormack, a spokesman for first-term Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino. "But three weeks after we got here we just received this letter that they wanted to terminate, which was their right."

McCormack assured that Westchester would find a qualified company, and said any past problems the county had in privatized inmate medical care were not relevant to the present-day search.
"I can't even comment on that," he said. "You're talking about stuff that happened way before we were here, and you're speculating on what's going to happen in the future.  

 

 

Westchester used for-profit vendors to provide inmate medical care for four years in the late 1990s but renewed its deal with the medical center after a series of controversies under the oversight of two companies.
In one instance, a Bedford girl hanged herself in her cell in 1996 after being taken off an anti-depressant. Three years later, a man hanged himself.

 

A professional long term CSEA member working in the affected program spoke at the Westchester County Board of Legislators' meeting on April 5, 2010.

This is her statement:

 

 Video Link from Bd of Legislators web site:

On the new window, select "Apr 05 Board of Legislators - Regular Meeting"  on the left column to start the video; then Fast Forward to approx 32:30 to see Patrizia Perugini's presentation) 

Click this link:
 http://meetings.westchesterlegislators.com/Citizens/Default.aspx?AgencyName=WestchesterCounty

  

   

Patrizia Perugini of WMC  CHSMy name is Patrizia Perugini; I was born, raised and still live in Westchester County. 

I am a Psychiatric Social Worker employed by Westchester Medical Center (WMC) and have been working at Westchester County Department of Corrections since 2000. 

I am here on behalf of the staff at Westchester Medical Center Correctional Health Services (CHS).  WMC gave formal notice and effective July 25, they will no longer be providing medical and mental health services at the Department of Corrections.  Private for-Profit vendors have already started touring the correctional facility. 
I am here to discuss why it is in the county’s best interest to re-negotiate and keep WMC as the provider at the Department of Corrections.

 

CHS has been providing services at the jail since 2000.  We have made many self initiated efforts to intelligently contain cost while still provide quality services to the inmate population.  Such efforts include:

1-      Our new approach to dispensing medications.  Due to our hospital affiliation, we are part of a 3 40B program which enables us to purchase bulk medications at a significantly reduced rate.  This rate will go away if CHS is no longer the provider.

2-      About 3 years ago, CHS implemented the system of telemedicine which has tremendously decreased emergency room trips and off site hospital visits.

3-      The majority of the staff at CHS has been working at the facility since the beginning of the contract (Jan. 2001).  This has lead to less staff turnover which in the long run has saved the county money.

 

We the employees of CHS pride ourselves in running a quality health care program.  We have access to the only tertiary care hospital in the region.  We have an academic affiliation with New York Medical College.  We have a dual accreditation with the National Commission on Correctional Health Care and American Correctional Association.  We are currently nominated for National Facility of the year by the National Commission on Correctional Health Care.

 

Our medical and mental health services positively impact public health safety issues.  We have extensive immunization, medical and mental health services leading to healthier inmates re-entering back into our communities.

 

We have many letters from local county residents and county employees advocating to keep WMC CHS as the health care provider in the Department Of Corrections.

 

Thank You.

 

 

Attachment	Size
Apr4_2010WestchesterToPrivatizeInmateHealthCare.pdf	97.08 KB
Apr5_2010_WMC_CHS_Perugini.pdf	47.19 KB
Apr72010UnionCriticizesPlanToPrivatizeHealthCareAtJail_0[1].pdf	82.29 KB
May28_2010AstorinoToHireNewMedicalProviderForJail.pdf	31.07 KB
Jun182010Westchesterexecvetoesnewbidsforinmatemedicalcare.pdf	12.8 KB
Jun22010Westchesterofficialsclashoverprivatizingjailhealthcare.pdf	28.53 KB
July92010_MedCenterLaysOff130Workers.pdf	36.6 KB