10.29.2001

Worcester Columnist Diane Williamson has put a human face on the crisis in health care, particularly in nursing care, as she describes the human impact of recent dramatic cuts in staff and services at UMass Memorial Medical Center. (See her column below).

Read this and weep for the patients, and for the nurses and other staff who are left deal with the aftermath of senseless cuts made by the Hunter Group, high priced consultants brought in to make hard hearted decisions that are harming patients who depend on this hospital for care. At a time when study after study shows the devastating impact of poor nurse staffing on patient outcomes, when nurses are leaving the system in droves because they can no longer practice their profession under current conditions, the system keeps making deeper cuts.

Krysten Ames, a patient interviewed for the column says it best: "If the executives at this hospital are going to cut to the bare bones, I want them to know how hard it hits—not on paper, but at a patient's bedside," she said. "I could be anybody laying here. I could be your mother or your wife or your sister. I'm speaking for all those people who can't speak out for themselves.

"I understand health care is a business," she added. "But the bottom line is not a dollar bill. It's a human life."

Read this article and get angry. And after you get angry, get active in supporting legislation that takes patient care decisions out of the hands of administrators and slash and burn consultants. Support HB 1186, a bill mandating safe registered nurse-to-patient ratios for all patients. This bill acknowledges that patients should have a right to basic standards of quality care in our health care system, and that hospitals and other providers should be held accountable for providing that level of care.

Support increased funding for our hospitals, but not without holding the hospital industry accountable for making sure that money goes to the bedside to help patients.

And join the Mass. Senior Action Council, the Mass. Nurses Association and other health care and citizen activists for an Umbrella Day Rally on Nov. 1, 2001 at 11 a.m. at the State House. The Rally is to protest efforts by the Mass. Legislature to cut funding for programs for children, senior citizens, and people with disabilities. Proposed budget cuts threaten a variety of programs to protect the health and welfare of our citizens, including programs for health care, mental health, home care, public safety, school-based health, prescription drugs for seniors, housing and child care. The event is to communicate to our elected representatives that now is the time to use the state's Rainy Day Funds, and to suspend pending tax cuts so that we can protect the health, education, housing, childcare and other programs we depend on.

This story appeared in the Worcester Telegam on October 25, 2001 and has since been forwarded to the archives section of that web site. To read this story you will need to perform a "search" providing the following information:

Key words in the story (title): Cutbacks at Hospital Criticized
Date the story first appeared: October 25, 2001

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