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Save Waltham Hospital
Good afternoon, my name is Joanne Bartoszewicz RN. Thank you for
allowing me to speak today. I am member of Mass Nurses Association.
I represent the Registered Nurses at the Whidden Memorial Hospital,
now part of the Cambridge Health Alliance in Everett, where I have
worked for 23 years.
Last year at this time, as most of you know, when Malden Hospital
was closing, notice had been served to the City of Everett that
the lease on the Whidden would not be renewed. This meant the hospital
would close, leaving five immediate communities with no access to
healthcare.
Many factors played into the saving of the Whidden: Time; Direction,
action and support by the Mayor of Everett, the Board of Alderman
and city council. community support and activism forming of the
Local Five Healthcare Coalition linking communities; dedication
of the workers; commitment of the physicians to the community needs
and the nursing staff remained committed to staying until the doors
closed, even thought we could have taken employment in many other
facilities. Nursing advocated for the community, patients and ourselves.
The Cambridge Health Alliance came forward and saw the opportunity
in running the Whidden along with the Psych beds at Malden. In April,
a collective bargaining agreement was signed with CHA, including
the Malden psych unit. Benefits were instituted for all employees
as well as computer training for all employees. On July 1, 2001
Whidden Memorial Hospital officially became part of the Cambridge
Health Alliance.
Within a few short months, we went from closing, to being bought
and saved to expanding. We expanded our number of nurses by including
the Malden psych unit and we expanded physical location of the beds
to the Whidden site within one year, which has meant construction
and growth, we have expanded into the communities we serve, first
in Everett and soon to be in the surrounding communities. In the
few months a great deal of work was done by staff as well as CHA
to make this successful.
Here are a few points that made a successful transition. The successor
in this case the Cambridge Health Alliance, had a strong and consistent
commitment to the ensuring the facility remain as an acute care
setting for the long term. The successor employer met with professional
nurses union and reached agreement on transition prior to the actual
date of transfer. Successor employer made formal recognition of
nurse’s union representation, collective bargaining contract
and the parties reached mutual agreement on changes. It is not that
we do not, or did not have bumps along the way, but the transition
was accomplished with all employees held relatively harmless and
there was a seamless transfer of employment. This provided stability
for the workforce and for the community to assure health services
would continue without interruption. This allowed us to continue
to admit patients, expand services and move foreward.
I am very happy to a part of the Whidden Memorial Hospital/Cambridge
Health Alliance.
Thank you.
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