The union representing nurses at Trumbull Memorial Hospital and Hillside have approved new contracts paving the way for Ardent Health Services of Tennessee to take over Forum Health.
The vote by the 1,200 employees represented by three AFSCME unions was, according to union officials, a strong 'yes'. The union agreed to significant concessions for the third time but will also get a sign-on bonus, a wage increase and a 401K match.
Union officials had strong words for the current Forum administration, saying "it doesn't know how to run a hospital."
According to a press release, Thomas R. Connelly, president of AFSCME Local 2026, which represents TMH nurses, said Ardent plans to spend millions to upgrade facilities and expand services but "above all, they have a solid plan and the resources to keep the hospitals open and serving the community."
"For most of us, it was Ardent or the courts," Connelly said. "Forum's plan was unrealistic and has virtually no chance of success."
AFSCME Local 2804 President Mike Konitsney said after Forum filed for bankruptcy in 2008, members took $8 million in cuts last year to help it reorganize and emerge from bankruptcy as a viable business, which has not succeeded.
"Shame on Forum," he said. "Once again, Forum has show it doesn't know how to run a hospital. We've been the ones keeping Forum afloat all this time."
The release said Ardent has taken over other troubled hospitals and has turned them around.
