Latest Layoffs at Fatima, Roger Williams Spark Charges By Union and CharterCare Response
Sunday, November 20, 2016
A new round layoffs at Fatima Hospital and Roger Williams Medical Center has prompted the workers' union to ask the cities of Providence and North Providence to revoke the recent tax treaties. But, CharterCare -- the parent organization to the hospitals say that the total number of staffers is up and the group continues to pour tens of millions into improving the hospitals. CharterCare is owned by Prospect Medical Holdings.
United Nurses and Allied Professionals Local 5110 President Lynn Blais, RN, released the following statement on Friday.
UNAP Statement
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST"We have learned that Prospect CharterCARE management is in the process of laying off approximately 30 employees at Our Lady of Fatima Hospital and Roger Williams Medical Center. Additionally, they are freezing approximately 20 vacant positions. Regrettably, this is the fourth layoff executed by Prospect CharterCARE since 2014 that has left close to 100 hard working employees without a job.
When Prospect lobbied the Providence City Council and North Providence Town Council in 2014 for hundreds of thousands of dollars in tax breakers, they promised to preserve and create new jobs through investment in Fatima Hospital and Roger Williams Medical Center. In fact, job preservation and creation were central to the councils’ willingness to pass ordinances giving Prospect its' tax breaks.
Today, Prospect management proved that they cannot be trusted to keep their word. They have reneged on their promises to municipal leaders in Providence and North Providence and should be held accountable.
We respectfully urge the City of Providence and the Town of North Providence to repeal the ordinances they passed allowing Prospect to benefit from lucrative tax breaks, while continuing to eliminate jobs in Rhode Island."
But the hospital group fired right back and said the union's claims were wrong. "The UNAP statement is misleading in that it fails to note the more than 185 new jobs that CharterCARE has created in the past two years. These new jobs were the result of a more than $30 million capital investment in our two hospitals for renovations, new equipment and medical technology, as well as new clinical programs we have created to meet the changing needs of our community. CharterCARE also paid in excess of $2.5 million in new tax payments combined to Providence and North Providence this year alone.
This recent adjustment in staffing is an effort to align our operations with changing market conditions and was done without compromising our ability to provide high quality care, safety and value to our patients."
DEVELOPING
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