healthcare

This Friday, Media Mobilizing Project is premiering "Infection in Our Health Care System" at the Freedom Theatre as part of our launch of MMP TV. The hour-length investigative report focuses on the experiences of poor and working people within a health care system that places profit over people. Spanning from Pottstown to northeast Philadelphia, the special report tells the story of workers struggling for dignity and communities fighting for survival in the face of corporate and university greed. The launch of MMP TV also marks an important moment for Philadelphia's media landscape. At a time when the freedom of the Internet is in jeopardy and our mass media is increasingly consolidated offering the perspectives of the wealthy and well-connected, MMP TV is  made by, for and from the perspective of the majority poor and working class communities of Philadelphia and beyond. It tells the stories that FOX News and the Philadelphia Inquirer will not tell, giving voice to those that have long been silenced.

 
Nurses and techs from Temple University Hospital joined fellow members of the National Nurses United Union in Washington DC last week to rally and advocate for nurse to patient ratios.
 
PASNAP, the nurse's local here in Philadelphia, won a contract fight against Temple University Health Systems after a month long strike in April. 
 

Nurses and other healthcare professionals share stories that expose the impact on patients when Temple Hospital maximizes profits by cutting medical supplies, understaffing and decreasing patients' length of stay at the hospital. PASNAP (Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals) are striking over a contract that would institute a 'gag clause,' effectively barring these health professionals from advocating for patient safety.

Because the federal health reform bill signed into law today (Tuesday, March 23)  fails to make health care truly universal and equitable, human right to health care advocates across the country are pushing their state legislatures to implement more effective and comprehensive measures at the state level. In Vermont, for example, the Vermont Workers’ Center’s Healthcare Is a Human Right Campaign has galvanized legislative action with a powerful grassroots organizing and advocacy strategy.

This afternoon, nurses, doctors, students, and concerned community members picketed outside the ribbon cutting ceremony for the opening of Temple’s new Medical Education and Research Building at 3500 N. Broad St. Temple VIPs who attended the ceremony had a clear view of the spirited rally from inside the shiny new building.

In a preliminary ruling at the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board, the Temple University Hospital Nurses Association (TUHNA) won an important victory potentially forcing the university to reinstate healthcare workers' right to tuition remission for dependents. This ruling is compounded by an overwhelming vote by nurses to reject the Temple University Health System's (TUHS) contract offer, which amongst other things asked nurses to double their monthly contribution to healthcare. While negotiations between the nurses and university administration continue, the possibilities of a major strike of healthcare workers looms.

 
At 12PM Monday September 28th, nurses from the Pennsylvania Association of School Nurses And Practicioners will hold a rally outside Temple Hospital at Broad and Tioga. The nurses are planning  a three-day strike on the following weekend, October 3rd, over a contract dispute with Temple University Health System (TUHS).  The core concerns for nurses at Temple is TUHS's refusal to negotiate over salary (including negotiations over cost of living increases); Temple's recent decision to phase out tuition reimbursement for dependents of hospital employees, and what PASNAP believes is an excessive increases in employee contribution to healthcare (TUHS is asking employee contributions to jump from $180 a month to $360 a month). 
 
See previous coverage over TUHS's decision to shutdown Northeastern Hospital this summer:
Northeastern Hospital Closure Haunts Temple
The Human Right to Healthcare: Northeastern Hospital is Ground Zero
Northeastern Hospital is Too Important to Close
 
 

Since January, nurses inside Hahnemann Hospital in Center City Philadelphia have been working towards unionizing. Despite the union-busting tactics employed by Tenet management, nurses have organized in support of joining Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals (PASNAP).

Currently, Hahnemann workers are awaiting a decision from the National Labor Relations Board to find out if the results of their recent union vote will be counted.

In the midst of this uncertainty, one nurse agreed to an anonymous interview with Labor Justice Radio. He explains the events that led up to the union election and talks about what is at stake for nurses like himself.

With job loss and unemployment steadily on the rise throughout Pennsylvania, Express Scripts, a Fortune 500 company that brought in $799 million in profit last year, has threatened to shut down its Bensalem facility if workers refuse to accept significant cuts in wages and health care benefits. The jobs of over 1,000 pharmacists, pharmacy techs, customer service reps and production workers in Bensalem are on the line.

Esta es una entrevista con Irma Zamorra de Promatoras de Salud. Promatoras de Salud es un programa que viene de Puentes de Salud, la clínica gratuita para la communidad inmigrante del sur de Philadelphia. Irma habló con Radio Tlacuache de lo que es vivir con un sistema de salud como el de Estados Unidos cuando uno no tiene información, ayuda ni beneficios medicos.