Hospital staff rally in support of those laid off at Regional

About two dozen union health care workers rallied in 16-degree temperatures Wednesday afternoon outside Yakima Regional Medical and Cardiac Center in support of colleagues who no longer have jobs.

Most of the employees were technical and service workers, but some were registered nurses and managers, according to the union.

"We're trying to get as many of them back into the workplace as we can," said John Procopio, an emergency room technician who's a member of the union's bargaining team. "We want to get management back to the table for contract negotiations, something that shows those people are still valuable employees."

Earlier this month about 19 people were laid off in what hospital officials say were cuts driven by the economy. Union workers say the cuts were unnecessary because the hospital is making a healthy profit. The hospital routinely adjusts staffing to match patient volumes.

"As our volumes come back, we'll look to add those positions back," said Monte Bostwick, the hospital's chief executive officer. "Like any good business, we need to adjust to our volumes."

Regional's parent corporation, Health Management Associates of Naples, Fla., reported that admissions at its hospitals fell by 3.3 percent in the third quarter. Elective surgeries also declined corporate-wide, as did emergency room visits.

HMA owns 56 hospitals primarily in rural areas in the Southeast and Southwest. The publicly traded company also runs Toppenish Community Hospital, which was not affected by the cuts.

The hospital is in contract negotiations with the union, Service Employees International Union Local 1199 NW, and talks were supposed to resume todaywith the presence of a mediator. However, union organizers said negotiations have been pushed back because snowy weather conditions will prohibit the mediator's travel.

Denise Baeza, spokeswoman for SEIU in Seattle, said the employees weren't given proper notice as required under the contract. The union has filed an unfair labor practices charge over the matter.

Union members said the hospital's 2007 profit of $12.4 million amounts to a healthy 11.4 percent operating profit margin.

"Yakima Regional Medical Center continues to make a profit," said Debbie Helgert, an operating room technician. "There's no financial reason for layoffs while hospital programs expand."

Bostwick said that union members don't get the whole picture.

"The union continues to point to profitability of hospital but they conveniently leave out ... that we pay taxes. We also have a large clinic network that we subsidize," he said. "I understand they have families and it was not an easy decision."

During the rally, supporters set up a box to collect packaged food for the affected workers.