Business & Tech

I Am L + M! A New Campaign Aims To Draw Attention To Changes At The Hospital

Healthcare workers and elected officials come together to launch a new campaign organized by the AFT healthcare workers union to hold New London's Lawrence + Memorial Hospital "accountable to the community."

“I Am L+M!” That’s the name of a new campaign to draw attention to reductions in staff and services at Lawrence + Memorial Hospital in New London.

L+M healthcare workers were joined by AFT and AFL-CIO union officials and local and state elected leaders at a press conference yesterday outside the hospital to announce the campaign, which includes a web site, Iamlandm.org, that urges people to sign a petition to hold the hospital “accountable to the community.” The media blitz also includes a new public service announcement that should begin airing on local television stations this week.

The campaign is being organized by AFT Connecticut, which is the largest union of acute care workers in the state and represents about 1,600 nurses, LPNs, technicians, and healthcare workers at L+M Hospital. Local and state elected officials including Mayor Daryl Finizio and City Council members Michael Passero, Marie Friess-McSparran, and Anthony Nolan were also present at the press conference to show their support for the cause.

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At issue is the hospital’s decision to layoff 33 employees, to stop providing services such as the child car seat inspections, parenting classes, injury and teen pregnancy prevention programs at the hospital, and to relocate psychiatric and OBGYN services away from the hospital proper to offsite clinics elsewhere in the community served by L+M.

Harry Rodriguez, Health Unit Coordinator for L+M and president of L+M Healthcare workers AFT Local 5123 noted that while the hospital claimed financial hardship when it made those decisions, it was also in the process of buying Westerly Hospital in Rhode Island for $69 million and stating that it held more than $200 million in unrestricted investments. 

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“This community hospital is in the business of undercutting staff, putting profits before patients,” said Lisa D’Abrosca, RN, who is president of the L+M Hospital nurses AFT Local 5049. “This is a greedy race to the bottom.”

“I have a real problem with them cutting services,” said Stephanie Johnson, a sleep lab technician and president of the LPN/Techs, AFT Local 5051 at L+M.

In the hospital’s defense, L+M Spokesman Michael O’Farrell said that the purchase of Westerly and the creation of the new Cancer Care Center in Waterford are part of the hospital’s strategy to help strengthen the overall corporation by developing new revenue sources. The goal is to put the hospital in the best possible financial position to help it maintain its commitment to serving the community in difficult fiscal times, O’Farrell said.

“This is a difficult healthcare landscape and L+M is trying to maintain the strength it’s had. We both [the union and the hospital administration] have the same goal and it’s to provide the best patient care possible,” O’Farrell said. “L+M’s been here 101 years. We are ingrained in the community. We’ve been here for the community and we will be here for the community.”

O’Farrell also countered charges levied by New London NAACP President Don Wilson that cuts to staffing and services have disproportionately affected minorities. “If you look at the things that have been cut, it’s been from across the board,” O’Farrell said.

“Service has not gone away. The location has changed,” he said, noting that the off-site clinics are based in areas served by the hospital, such as East Lyme, Waterford, Old Lyme, and elsewhere in New London, which may be more convenient for many and which are also offering expanded hours of service.

Matt O’Connor, AFT Connecticut communications director, however, said the employees hired to work at these clinics are paid less than their hospital counterparts were, receive fewer benefits and pay more for their health care benefits.  These new employees have expressed an interest in joining the union, but L+M has refused to recognize that effort, O’Connor said. That resulted in a complaint to the National Labor Relations Board, which is scheduled for a hearing on October 21. 


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