Mish has a post out about huge layoffs due to a financial shortfall in my home region of Miami, FL. I looked deeper because it's so close to home and medical and found that the Jackson Health System Begins Layoffs:
MIAMI -- As part of a massive restructuring and cost-cutting plan, 22 administrators have been laid off from Jackson Health System.
"Any further layoffs will follow contractual obligations regarding layoff notification to the respective unions," wrote CEO Dr, Eneida Roldan in a statement Friday.
Union officials representing nurses and health care providers are concerned workers will bear the brunt of the institution's recovery plan.
“That’s totally unfair for the employees,” said one of Jackson’s registered nurses, who asked to remain anonymous. “We have to see and wait; hopefully they will review and make changes from the top.”
Earlier this month, members of the Public Health Trust, the hospital system’s governing board, were shocked to learn that Jackson is almost a quarter-billion dollars in the red, far worse than expected, and getting deeper by the day.
A significant factor is that the hospital failed to collect on almost three-fourths of its bills last year.
"One of the things that we've been suffering is conversion of our IT systems and information systems, which is what you have seen as part of the issue that's been coming from 2007 with our accounts receivable," Roldan said.
You bet this is unfair. It smells worse than just unfair.
A giant financial enterprise- the largest employer in South Florida-- is not supposed to have chronic massive ongoing revenue shortfalls because it doesn't bother sending a bill to an insurer (mostly Medicaid and Medicare at Jackson) and then "shock" the board. More likely there's corruption here. It's the Miami way. Certainly the global looting by the banksters, which continues, was corrupt though largely legal (probably). At the very least there is dereliction of duty here. What more? Perhaps a shrunken Miami Herald will think it can sell a few more papers if it investigates.
Time will tell.
The many disasters that are befalling this country don't "just happen". People make them happen.
Copyright (C) Long Lake LLC 2010
No comments:
Post a Comment