The Free Press, Mankato, MN

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April 22, 2009

Nurses protest at ISJ

Health cuts causing a stir

By Brian Ojanpa

MANKATO — Picketing won’t bring back the lost jobs, but several dozen nurses said they were doing so Wednesday to let the public know what’s been lost.

“Immanuel St. Joseph’s is eliminating more than 200 years of experience at this hospital,” said Shelley Seeburg of St. Paul, area director for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.

“This isn’t an economic decision; it’s a health-care decision being made about who will be at bedsides.”

The Mankato hospital has eliminated all 12 of its inpatient licensed practical nurse positions as part of an overall workforce reduction of 140 full-time employees.

Chief Communications Officer Kevin Burns said the action is in response to a sustained decline in inpatient numbers at the facility.

“These reductions are part of a thoughtful, strategic approach to reducing our expenses in accordance with a decline in revenues,” he said. “It’s also consistent with what is occurring throughout the health industry.”

Immanuel St. Joseph’s and regional affiliate hospitals in Waseca, St. James and Springfield are facing nearly $10 million in state budget cuts.

Deb Tauer of New Ulm, president of the 1,100-member Minnesota Licensed Practical Nurses Association holding its state convention in Mankato this week, said LPN job eliminations occurring nationwide is wrongheaded.

“Why would you get rid of licensed practical nurses at bedsides when the acuity of patients (those requiring higher degrees of care) is up?” she said.

Among the picketers was Mankato hospital LPN Lois Groebner, who lost her job after 39 years.

“We just don’t agree with it,” she said of the nursing job eliminations. “We need both RNs (registered nurses) and LPNs taking care of patients. An RN is the team leader and LPNs manage care. A bedside nurse is a liaison between the patient and the doctors.”

Group members said health care is compromised when hospitals attempt to replace licensed caregivers with non-licensed workers.

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