Changes Afoot In Pierce County Mental Health

Yesterday, August 20th, I received a call asking for a meeting with Secretary of DSHS, Susan Dreyfus to discuss what is happening in Pierce County.

As you may or may not know Pierce County RSN, as well as mental health services in general, have long struggled with lack of adequate funding to care for this very complex population of citizens. One of the figures I’ve read is that one in five families is impacted by someone with mental health issues whether it is themselves, family, friends or neighbors. The truth is, we are all impacted in some way by mental illness and the effectiveness and availability of treatment and housing options.

According to the information I received in the meeting, Pierce County will close down most of its mental health services by October 1st this year.

Frankly I was stunned that the county failed to win its bid to provide those services and very concerned for these citizens and families who have relied on the services provided. Many of the workers in the RSN system are represented by unions (not WFSE) and the impact on approximately 130 of them is alarming as well.

The state apparently believes that it can recover about 3.5 million in Medicaid dollars by contracting with OptumHealth. OptumHealth is a for profit company that administers Pierce County mental health services for the state.

How does this impact the Washington Federation of State Employees? An e-mail was sent to Western State Hospital Employees yesterday from Doug Porter, Assistant Secretary of HRSA:

Dear Employees of Western State Hospital,

You will likely be hearing media reports about a change in the providers of crisis triage, and evaluation, and treatment services for Pierce County. Optum Health will be announcing tomorrow two new contractors who will be providing these services effective October 1st.

WSH will play a limited supporting role in the transition by leasing space in the PALS unit to Optum for the provision of these services on a temporary basis, while the contractors search for permanent sites.

I want to be clear that our role is limited to leasing existing space and utilities. Optum’s contractors will be responsible for staffing that space, making any needed tenant improvements at their expense, and maintaining that space.

It is my expectation that no WSH staff will be called upon to support these new contractors in any way. It is my further expectation that the new revenue generated by these lease payments offset staff reductions we would otherwise be obliged to take absent that revenue.

The e-mail goes on to direct WSH staff questions to a question collector.

New revenue generated to support state mental health services is always welcome and sorely needed. The commitment to use the lease payments to offset staff reductions at the state hospital has value both for patients and staff at Western State Hospital, provided there is no shell game afoot.

DSHS and the state have serious obligations to its citizens and its workforce. State employees are dedicated to providing quality work to meet the demands. Commitments made to these employees, whether verbally or in e-mails, must be upheld.

During the meeting, a number of immediate questions came to mind and I shared a couple of them at the meeting.

• At Western State Hospital, all employees, no matter job duties, must pass a background check to be on the campus due to the vulnerable population. Will the same requirements be met when this for profit is temporarily housed on the campus?
  
• If campus security is currently provided by the hospital and cannot provide security at that facility which is on the campus – what is the protocol when security is required?
  
• Does the money currently provided for the Lakewood Police Department response to Western State Hospital get used to respond to the for profit vendor?
  
• Patients at the hospital go outdoors and one would think that the for profit contractor would provide outdoor breaks to their clientele as well. Again a security question naturally follows.
  
• Unexpected things happen. Some patients will be coming into Western State Hospital during the transition period. The number is unclear. Typically, as the bad weather moves in, there is a natural influx of patients. Will there be enough beds to serve these citizens without creating overcrowded and dangerous wards.
  

I know these questions barely scratch the surface. Members at Western State Hospital will have many more and will be asking them of Local 793 leadership. Members may also ask them here and they will be forwarded to the local president.

Thank You WFSE Warriors !

Thank you to all who came out in support of Local 793's rally and job action. Not only did Local 793 members come out en masse but they were joined by brothers and sisters from Eastern State Hospital Local782, by DOC brothers and sisters, Council officers and staff, and Senator Mike Carrell. King 5 news captured the action when Local 793 provided a gift box of cost saving ideas to the Western State Hospital CEO. These ideas were offered to help prevent the loss of 65 workers at Western State Hospital who provide care to mentally ill citizens of Washington State. The closed door attitude by management at Western State Hospital is symbolized by the locked door to the administrative wing where the CEO and others have offices. It was memorialized in a cartoon that tells the story of the workers there.
The rally pressure succeeded in that management now has agreed to come to the table to discuss issues raised by the membership. Again thank you one and all! Solidarity!

View Hotline coverage of the rally here.

A rally at Western State Hospital has been scheduled. The new CEO at Western State Hospital refuses to engage in discussions with Local 793 prior to implementing substantive changes at the hospital. Repeated attempts to establish communication have resulted in multiple demands to bargain at the facility.

This hospital employs more than a thousand of our members. Currently, the CEO has announced via e-mail lay offs that have not been discussed with the local union. Furthermore, members have individually been told verbally that they will be laid off with no discussions with the local leadership. The local has put in a demand to bargain and a meeting is scheduled after the notification has gone out and the decisions made. Despite the fact that there are three other unions on campus, the real people facing lay off are our members.

I believe this is an attempt to divide our union and strike fear in the hearts of our activists at Local 793. If you are available to attend the rally at Western State Hospital, your presence and the presence of other members of your local would be deeply appreciated.

Western State Hospital is located at 9601 Steilacoom Boulevard SW in Lakewood near Tacoma.

The job action is on Thursday, this week from 11am-1pm.

Thank you in advance.

In solidarity,

Carol Dotlich

WSLC Convention Continues

Kent Wong, Director of UCLA Labor Center joined us today to celebrate the increasing diversity we are seeing in government today: the election of President Obama, Hilda Solis as Labor Secretary and now Sonia Sotomayer confirmed as Supreme Court Justice. He encouraged unions to continue to challenge and defeat racism in this country. The labor movement has played a significant role and must continue to work for social justice for working people. “We must forge real multi-racial unity in this country.”

Kelli Zimmerman, Assistant to the Self-Insured Ombudsman and member of Local 443 at LNI did a presentation on the changes in the law that creates worker advocacy as the mission and goal. Injured workers who work for self-insured employers now have an advocate to help them get through this complex system.

Bill Daley, Health Care Policy Expert with Washington /Community Action Network, spoke on the discussions occurring around National Health Care Reform. He detailed the public option piece, expected to cost less than the insurance company offerings. Keeping people from using emergency rooms and EMTs for issues that could be resolved by primary care physicians should generate significant savings. The Senate Finance committee remains an obstacle to success and it is unknown what will occur there. The House bill is the one that contains most of what we need. There is a well-financed attack on health care reform that is vicious and has at times become violent. Please attend the town hall meetings and encourage your representatives to support a good health care reform bill. Legislators are facing these hostile attacks rather than being able to explain and discuss the issues with their constituents. We cannot allow health care reform to be destroyed by those who profit from the suffering and the financial ruin that the current system allows. This issue comes down to “What will happen to me?” We must answer that question with a determined fight for real healthcare reform with a public option. The list of town hall meetings is on the Washington State Labor Council website on Today’s Events.

Congressman Jay Inslee Joined us today and gave a great speech that aligned with the theme of the convention, “Bring Change Home”. He spoke to these priorities:

1) Grow a new clean energy economy, using American companies with American labor and developing American trechnology
2) Healthcare Reform
3) Employee Free Choice Act

“Each of us are players on this stage. Please stand up and do your part. Join the President and join me ,” said Inslee.

Washington State Labor Council Convention In Session Now

Washington State Labor Council Convention August 6, 2009


Delegates from Council 28 Locals all around the state gathered early in the morning to discuss the issues that they will vote on during the Washington State Labor Council Convention beginning at 9am today and wrapping up on Friday August 7th.

The keynote Speaker was Arlene Holt Baker, AFL-CIO Executive VICE President, an AFSCME sister. Delegates of Locals affiliated with Council 28 served as her escort committee. Since I was with her as part of the escort committee, I was unable to capture parts of her speech which I had hoped to do. One of the memorable statements she made is : “The road to success can be found at the intersection of Preparation, Perspiration and Inspiration.”

Greg Devereux, Executive Director, gave a report on Initiative 1033. The “Taxpayer Bill of Rights” passed in Colorado some years back and it set an arbitrary cap on revenue that strangled the economy of Colorado. It was later overturned by the citizens of Colorado who had suffered under its impact. Initiative 1033, a TABOR style concept, is now before the citizens of Washington State. The revenue will be set on our current economy which is a 9 billion dollar deficit. The impact will go far beyond the damage done in Colorado in those years. The entire labor movement must unite with firefighters, police, teachers, college faculty and staff, as well as state, county and city employees to fight the passage of Initiative 1033. The Washington State Labor Council has taken a strong stand against Initiative 1033.

A panel gave a presentation on Cap and Trade to educate delegates on the topic. On Carbon Pricing Policies a government carbon tax/fee is used to change behavior. The price of Carbon-intensive goods goes up. It puts a cap on carbon emissions. Every company that emits carbon has to buy a carbon allowance and each year that allowance goes down. If it doesn’t reduce the emissions, it must buy the allowance from government or another company. There are a number of controversial issues that will affect labor. Among them, the impact of the emissions on our planet and our future and the potential loss of American jobs in the metals industry, pulp and paper mills, cement and others. There was discussion of making green jobs good outlining a strategy for success. That brings us close to lunch break. More later.