CEO Stephen Gray started his new position at cash-strapped Watsonville (Calif.) Hospital on Nov. 1 and is already locked in negotiations with nursing staff, according to a Nov. 13 Lookout Santa Cruz.
Contracts for unionized nurses at the struggling hospital expired in May, and negotiations are ongoing. Part of any dispute is the decision by the hospital to move part-time nursing positions to full time, and there is also disagreement over how much nurses should be contributing to their insurance costs, according to the report.
Watsonville was one of 17 California hospitals to receive a state loan to help keep it afloat, netting $8.3 million in August.
The California Nurses Association represents about 250 nurses at the hospital, the report said.