Although the Health Professional and Allied Employees Union represents more than 600 workers at Bayonne Medical Center, the 250 who marched around the building on May 21 in support of a new contract came from throughout the state, showing solidarity in what could become a countywide issue. In fact, three other hospitals in Hudson County have members of the same union who plan to strike soon as well.

Wearing red shirts and waving white flags, the workers circled the building as if circling the walls of Jericho in an effort to push hospital management into signing an agreement before the current contract ends on May 31.

Many of the workers who filled East 29th Street for the rally came from other Hudson County hospitals whose contracts also expire at the end of the month. Along with Bayonne Medical Center, employees at Meadowlands Hospital in Secaucus, Christ Hospital in Jersey City, and Palisades Medical Center in North Bergen voted last week to authorize a one-day strike on June 2 if new contracts are not agreed upon.

HPAE President Anne Twomey said workers in Bayonne have given up as much as $11 million in salary and benefits over the last several years to help save BMC. She added the despite that current tough times, membership should not lower its standards.

“We need to strengthen the care we give at the hospital,” she said.

Some of the issues on the table involve more patients to fewer staff, as well as questions on benefits, job security and pensions.

Twomey said in negotiations, BMC is seeking give backs in several areas, and that the hospital has threatened to lock out the workers if they go on strike.

Bayonne Medical Center, however, said that it has offered its staff a bonus equal to two weeks of pay or an average per employee payout in excess of $1,700 if a contract is ratified by midnight on May 27. The bonus is in addition to a 3.1 percent increase given to all union employees in March.

Earlier this month, hospital officials said they intend to maintain services if a strike does take place, which means bringing on outside workers to handle the chores. This could result in strikers not being allowed to return to the hospital until a new contract is signed.

Meanwhile, the mayors from several Hudson County towns met with representatives of BMC in an effort to help mediate the conflict and to possibly avoid a strike.

Bayonne Mark Smith and Secaucus Mayor Dennis Elwell met with BMC Executive Director Daniel Kane and union officials separately in an effort to discourage a lock out and to push continued negotiations through the weekend.

“I’ve always met with representatives from Meadowlands Hospital [in Secaucus],” Elwell said. “These are real issues. In many cases, the workers are more concerned about working conditions and protecting patients. In Bayonne, Mayor Smith asked the hospital and union to meet over the weekend to resolve these issues.”

Elwell said he understood some of the problems the hospitals faced, especially with new same day surgery facilities opening near traditional hospitals, which threaten to cut into profits.

“Meadowlands makes a modest profit, but if you open a same-day surgery facility across the street, the hospital could start losing money,” he said, encouraging state legislators to put limits on such openings.

He said he came to Bayonne in order to help resolve the employees’ issues.
“We all fought too long and too hard to allow Bayonne Medical Center to become mired in a strike and rancorous labor strife.” – Mayor Mark Smith
“If it was only about money, I might not have gone to Bayonne,” he said. “But this is also about patient safety.”

In a release, Mayor Smith said he had met in separate meetings with Donna Benjamin, Anne Twomey, and Jean Otersen of the Health Professional and Allied Employees Union and Dan Kane, president of the Bayonne Medical Center, in an effort to keep both sides talking to avoid a job action. Smith was invited to attend a labor rally at the Bayonne Medical Center and took the opportunity to speak with both sides. He offered to mediate the labor dispute in his office over the weekend.

“We all fought too long and too hard to allow Bayonne Medical Center to become mired in a strike and rancorous labor strife. I call upon both sides to continue talking and to give a little in order to reach a fair and equitable settlement,” Smith said.

The mayor felt that in these difficult economic times, a strike would be disastrous for both the employees and the hospital.

“We can’t afford it,” said Smith. “Too much would be lost.”

The hospital employs over 800 people, of which about 65 percent live in Bayonne.

Mayor Smith said he was able to get both the union and management to agree to meet over the long holiday weekend. Before the mayor’s intervention, there were no talks scheduled. The contract between the HPAE and BMC expires on May 31.

Horizon files suit against BMC for fraud

Saying in an effort to protect its 3.6 million members from unnecessary premium increases, Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey (Horizon BCBSNJ) filed a Complaint for Injunctive and Declaratory Relief against Bayonne Medical Center (BMC). The complaint states that after BMC unilaterally terminated its Network Agreement with Horizon BCBSNJ and left the Horizon BCBSNJ network on Feb. 7, the hospital has been charging exorbitant fees and misrepresenting its fees for services, thereby defrauding the company.

Since leaving Horizon BCBSNJ’s network, BMC has dramatically increased its aggregate per day charge by over 100 percent. In 2008, the hospital’s aggregate per day charge was $13,000. In 2009, the aggregate per day charge is now $29,000. At the same time, BMC announced it would not collect any portion of the out-of-network fees owed by Horizon BCBSNJ members, thereby over-billing Horizon BCBSNJ, Horizon says. This practice increases health care costs and premiums for everyone and hides the real cost of the services being provided by BMC, Horizon says.

“Bayonne Medical Center is inflating and misrepresenting fees to Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey,” said Jim Albano, vice president of health care services, Horizon BCBSNJ. “This over-billing will ultimately lead to higher premiums for all.”

The purpose of a health insurance network is to provide affordable access to quality care for everyone that is part of the insurance pool. Bayonne Medical Center’s practices may be creating an inaccurate perception that health consumers are saving money, Horizon says. However, the end result is increased health care costs for Horizon BCBSNJ members.

In a release issued this week, BMC responded to the Horizon lawsuit:

“Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield’s lawsuit against Bayonne Medical Center (BMC) is meritless, baseless and frivolous,” the release said. “A nearly identical case was recently decided in New Jersey, which dismissed the same claims Horizon makes here. BMC recently terminated its participation contract with Horizon on account of Horizon’s grossly inadequate payment rates, and Horizon has chosen to act out by filing this trivial lawsuit. We intend to defend Horizon’s case against the hospital vigorously and we have every confidence that it will be disposed of in short order.”

The release continued, “BMC has a mandate and an obligation to the citizens of Bayonne and surrounding areas to give access to care no matter who their insurance carrier is and to treat every patient presented to its Emergency Room equally and without bias.”

The release said BMC has finally pulled back from the brink of fiscal disaster, partly by eliminating inequitable reimbursement policies by insurers such as Horizon.

“Through this lawsuit and other aggressive tactics, Horizon is attempting to send BMC back into perilous financial straits, which will only do harm to the residents of Bayonne and others who have come to depend upon BMC for their health care needs,” the release said. – AS