St. Vincent's Strike

State, Federal Inspection of Hospital is Promised
By Jim Bodor, Worcester Telegram & Gazette, April 28, 2000

WORCESTER, Mass.—At the request of Gov. Paul Cellucci, the state Department of Public Health and the federal Health Care Finance Administration will inspect Worcester Medical Center, where nurses have been on strike since March 31.

The inspection will be "in the near future," according to Paul R. Jacobsen, deputy state commissioner of health.

Also at the governor's request, the health department will begin issuing daily reports on conditions at the medical center, Mr. Jacobsen said.

The department has had monitors in the hospital every day since the beginning of the strike.  The monitors have sent daily written reports to public health officials indicating what they have found, he said. 

Beginning today, the department will make the daily reports available to the media and anyone else who requests them, Mr. Jacobsen said.

The state also has established a toll-free number for patients to report any problems they have at the medical center during the strike, Mr. Jacobsen said.  That number is 800.462.5540.  It will be manned during the day and will be answered by a machine at night. 

"The department has been maintaining a local presence through the strike, but one of the issues has been that this information is not getting out to the public," he said.  "So the governor has directed us to take a few steps.

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