About 35 SEIU members who work at Pottstown Memorial Medical Center attended a public Board of Directors meeting last evening to discuss concerns over lack of progress in contract negotiations. Their contract expired at the end of August and the health care professionals are on their second extension while negotiations with the PMMC Board are slogged down and accusations of negotiating in bad faith are being levied against Community Health Systems, owner of the hospital. Mayor Sharon Thomas and Congressional candidate Doug Pike appeared to stand in solidarity with the SEIU members. Pike had this to say on camera:
While calmly and politely presenting their questions and concerns one Board member stared resolutely at a blank wall rather than face these people. I was told his name is Dr. Saylor. I thought his actions went beyond disrespect to being downright ignorant. If this indicative of the mentality directed at employees at Pottstown memorial Medical Center heaven help their patients. Wait, I have been a patient there an, perhaps, this reveals why I hope never to be in that place again. I grew up right outside Pottstown and remember how it was named. Pottstown Hospital merged with Memorial Hospital and became PMMC with a new facility. The problem was neither of the old places were good and the new one not much better. With Board leadership like this I see why.
I was last there about ten years ago when a skinhead ran me down with his truck. My shoulder was injured and to this day I have very limited mobility. Perhaps that is because while in the PMMC ER no doctor even examined me. Now their CEO says every ER patient will see a doctor within 30 minutes. I saw doctors. They walked past my examining room. The problem was no doctor saw me.
Some of the PMMC employees have been there for 38 and 41 years and one nurse complained she cannot even get a short break. As a patient we appreciate the tireless work ethic of nurses. Maybe the PMMC Board might also. This is the same Board which was sued under the Americans With Disabilities Act for its treatment of an attending physician. No wonder SEIU members say they are doing everything possible not to negotiate in good faith.
