Time for hospital and union to bargain in good faith
Kalispell Regional Healthcare, now Logan Health, has been a 501 (c)(3) tax exempt organization since 1973. Being tax exempt affords many advantages, one being exempt from paying local property taxes. Guess who has to pay the difference? In Flathead County it is all property owners and most businesses.
I wonder how much property tax revenue Logan Health has avoided paying the past 28 years? I trust this money has been properly invested in medical infrastructure and the qualified personnel necessary to support it. I had always felt a sense of community with Logan Health because, as a taxpayer, I was partially supporting it. Then about eight years ago it became obvious to me that members of the management structure did not appear to have the qualifications necessary to operate the facility in a professional and legal manner. My sense of community with the health care system’s management team was shattered and still is.
Given the current nurse-staffing situation at Logan Health, I pray that anyone hospitalized there that suddenly experiences a crisis will not have to press the call button for a half hour or so before a member of the short staffed nursing shift will be able to respond.
As a long-standing member of the Kalispell community I say to CEO Craig Lambrecht, “C’mon man, for the well-being of all, bargain in good faith, and continuing to stall is unacceptable.” To SEIU I say “C’mon man, stand strong for the patients and bargain in good faith.”
As the Beatles sang back in 1969 “come together, right now, over me.” So, what’s it going to be?
In retrospect, and as the father of an RN at Logan Health, I now believe that all future negotiations be open and public. Lambrecht and SEIU should negotiate face to face. The sessions should be available for viewing on the local Cable Channel 190.
The next newspaper insert that I want to see from either Logan Health or SEIU is one sponsored by both entities announcing that a positive agreement has been reached and a contract has been signed. The community deserves nothing less. The time to act is now!
Frederick Zavodny lives in Kalispell.