To: Krista McFadden, President, Hillside Rehabilitation Hospital and Rhett Cavicchi, Vice President of Labor Relations, Steward Healthcare

Tell Steward Execs: Respect Hillside's Nurses, Patients and Community

The for-profit healthcare machine, Steward Healthcare, is up to familiar antics: silence the nurse, forget the patient, make more money.

Why is this important?

The for-profit healthcare machine, Steward Healthcare, is up to familiar antics: silence the nurse, forget the patient and make more money. Our nurse’s union began contract negotiations in October 2018 and have been operating on a series of extensions with the hope of reaching a reasonable deal. Instead of a fair union contract, Steward insists on an either/or decision - agree to a loophole that could bust the union or accept unfairly low wages and concessions on healthcare benefits; a coupling of “shut up or earn less” proposals.

Our union is our most effective platform to stand up for our patients who need us for our specialized and individualized care. Hillside is the only hospital in the area that rehabilitates amputees, paraplegics and quadriplegics, patients with multiple sclerosis, brain injuries, and Parkinson’s, or those recovering from a stroke. It is a shame Steward wants to force us to decide on patient advocacy or jeopardizing our own economic welfare.

Steward’s familiar antics leave us concerned that Hillside will join other local institutions in the graveyard of once owned Steward facilities; a healthcare flip that they later deem as a flop because there were not enough commas after the dollar sign. Our patients cannot afford for us to be another casualty of Ohio’s unregulated healthcare system – one that allows profit-centered healthcare giants, like Steward, to chew up and spit out community-minded hospitals.

Join us in telling Steward that our nursing union is the best platform to advocate for our patients. Nurses should not have to choose between their union or unfair wages!