Hospital merger triggers concerns

One of those hearings occurred on Friday, Sept. 14 in Redwood City, which is also home to Sequoia Hospital, the only San Mateo County hospital affected by the merger.

Dignity Health representatives insisted that all services currently offered at Sequoia Hospital will remain intact after the merger and they attempted to reassure nurses as well.

“Do not expect any jobs to be reduced at Sequoia as a result of our alignment,” said Sequoia Hospital President Bill Graham, adding that collective bargaining agreements will remain in place and there will be no consolidation.

But Sequoia Hospital nurses and representatives from the American Civil Liberties Union remain skeptical. They specifically called for a 15-year commitment by the new ownership group to maintain services and keep hospitals open; the current merger agreement entails a five-year commitment.

“There’s been a five year commitment to no reduction in force, but that’s just five years,” former nurse Heidi Voellger said, adding that there were “massive layoffs” at Catholic Health Initiatives a couple of years ago. “There is no assurance that pensions for the nursing staff will remain and there’s no agreement that the bargaining agreement will continue with the union after the five-year time period ... so you’ll have a lot of very loyal nurses who’ve been working at Dignity Health for 20 to 30 years and they’ll lose everything.”

Some nurses pointed to past mergers to illustrate their concerns.

“I’ve been through a merger with Sutter at San Leandro hospital and watched them pull all the equipment out and they basically closed the hospital — the county had to take over, and it’s my concern that with the merger this way, unless there’s an extended commitment of at least 15 years, the same thing can happen in our community,” said Carole Schrader, a nurse at Sequoia Hospital.

Much of the concern with the merger also has to do with Catholic ownership and a fear that women’s health services will be compromised and that patients will be denied physician-assisted suicide or gender affirming surgery, for example.

“We’re concerned that this proposed merger could exacerbate the denials of care that we are already witnessing,” said Phyllida Burlingame, reproductive justice and gender equity director at the ACLU of Northern California. She said her organization is currently in litigation on two cases with Dignity Health because of denials of care. “This promise that they’re going to maintain levels of care for five years is one we can’t count on. These hospitals receive public funds and serve the general public and they need to provide care that meets the standard of care for all services.”

Speakers were also concerned that charity care — health care provided for free or at a discount for low-income patients — would by compromised by the merger.

During the hearing, about as many people spoke in favor of the merger and said it will only enhance Sequoia Hospital’s positive impact on the community.

“The goal of Dignity Health Sequoia has always been to provide the highest quality medical care and this alliance will help them further that goal. ... I’m hoping that these issues can be clarified and resolved so that you can allow this alliance to move forward,” said Diane Howard, vice mayor of Redwood City. “Historically, [Dignity Health] has joined with UCSF and the Cleveland Clinic to share resources and knowledge. Now it plans to join with Catholic Health Initiative to once again up its game.”

After the merger, the new hospital system will be called Integrated Healthcare Operations, and it will include more than 700 care sites and 139 hospitals across 28 states. It will also employ more than 159,000 people and over 25,000 physicians and other advanced practice clinicians, according to a press release.

The attorney general will consider public comment on the merger through Sept. 27 and a decision will likely be made several weeks after that, said Dignity Health spokeswoman Felicity Simmons.

“We are hoping to complete the alignment by the end of the year,” she said. “This alignment will allow us to continue caring for our communities for many years to come.”

zachary@smdailyjournal.com

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