The 66 certified registered nurse anesthetists whose contracts were terminated by Warren, Mich.-based St. John Providence Health System remain out of their jobs since rejecting the nonprofit health system's plan to outsource them to PSJ Anesthesia, a new outside contractor, according to the Detroit Free Press.
The nonunionized CRNAs, whose former jobs paid an average of $174,290 in the Detroit metro area, are now filing for unemployment insurance.
The CRNAs previously worked at Providence Park Hospital in Novi, Mich., and Providence Park Hospital in Southfield, Mich. The labor dispute arose in mid-October when 80 nurse anesthetists were informed their jobs with Providence were being outsourced to PSJ Anesthesia, a newly founded company affiliated with Dominick Lago, MD, an anesthesiologist at both hospitals. Fourteen nurses agreed to join the company while 66 CRNAs lost their jobs after repeatedly rejecting the terms for new contracts.
The CRNAs who refused to sign with PSJ Anesthesia said they were disappointed with the way the hospital approached the matter.
"We have no problem in taking a pay cut, and we as a group have said that multiple times," said Marie Williamson of Farmington, one of the nurse anesthetists who wouldn't join the outsourcing company, according to the report. "It was the manner in which it was rolled out. It was the take-it-or-leave-it approach. It was the complete and total devaluation of [CRNA] services."
Jean Meyer, president and CEO of St. John Providence, said no surgeries have been cancelled, delayed or transferred as a result of the loss of the 66 nurses.
"Every site for anesthesia has been covered and the atmosphere is positive and professional," she said in a statement. "There is not a CRNA shortage."
She said, "Every employed CRNA was offered a position at the exact same salary rate, with an excellent benefits package, and with the opportunity to work with the same physicians they had been working with for years. It was each individual's personal decision to accept or reject the offer."
Ms. Meyer added CRNA's overtime and on-call costs were unsustainable, and the decision to outsource them was necessary to more efficiently provide care while managing costs.