Most Jobs Safe, Yale-New Haven Says

After she and her colleagues received top-level assurances, Newhallville Alderwoman Delphine Clyburn plans to call nervous constituents and tell them they probably needn’t fear pay cuts or in most cases job losses when Yale-New Haven Hospital finishes taking over the Hospital of St. Raphael.

Clyburn and 13 other aldermen received those assurances Thursday evening at a City Hall briefing by Yale-New Haven (YNHH) officials.

She and other lawmakers told hospital staff that they’ve received anxious phone calls from constituents who work at St. Raphael’s (HSR). The constituents worry they’ll lose their jobs or benefits when YNHH takes over in September.

Some jobs will be eliminated, said Vin Patrini, YNHH senior vice-president of public affairs. As many as 200 people’s positions will be made ​“redundant” by the acquisition. But the hospital is working hard to find new positions for those people, Patrini said. And YNHH is hiring 3,400 HSR staffers, he said.

Kevin Myatt (pictured), YNHH senior vice-president in charge of human resources, assured Clyburn that staff transferred from HSR will have different but equivalent wages and benefits.

“It sounded like they were safe?” Clyburn said of her nervous constituents after the briefing, still with a questioning tone in her voice. After further conversation with Myatt and Patrini about pensions, she was more assured. ​“I think they are secure.”

Thursday’s aldermanic briefing was the latest in a series of informational meetings organized by the Board of Aldermen, which has many of rookie lawmakers looking to learn about different aspects of the city. The board has had briefings on the Shubert theater and Yale university, and will have one on the city’s Complete Streets manual on Aug. 20.

Vatican Blessed

Before aldermen turned their attention to YNHH’s acquisition of HSR, Patrini took them through an deck of PowerPoint slides on the hospital.

Yale-New Haven is a not-for-profit institution with 1,008 beds and 3,600 physicians. It has a cancer hospital, a children’s hospital, and a psychiatric hospital. It’s the city’s second largest employer after Yale University. The hospital employs over 2,200 New Haveners and pays them about $110 million in wages each year. Employees benefit from medical, dental, and prescription drug plans, as well as a performance-based bonus system and a homeownership program.

As a not-for-profit, YNHH does not pay property taxes on the land it owns, but it has given the city $7 million in voluntary payments since 2006, Petrini said. The hospital also supports many local not-for-profits and community organizations. Petrini said the hospital is supporting the Board of Aldermen’s ​“jobs pipeline” initiative, which seeks to connect New Haveners to job training and job placement.

As for the acquisition of HSR, Petrini said YNHH has received requisite approvals, including getting green lights from the state and federal governments and securing the blessing of the Vatican (since HSR is a Catholic hospital).

The final formal takeover now awaits resolution of Medicare billing details that need to be in place for YNHH to collect Medicare payments at HSR. The latest projected date for the closing of the deal is the week of Sept. 9, said Petrini.

“No One Will Lose”

When Petrini opened the floor for questions, aldermen immediately began asking about employees losing their jobs as a result of the acquisition. Petrini said that will be the case for fewer than 200 HSR workers.

“The most common reason is redundancy,” he said. Yale-New Haven will not need two people doing the same job in certain departments, and will first lay off the HSR worker in the duplicate position. The ​“vast majority” of the redundancies will be in management, Petrini said.

Some people will not be hired by YNHH because they were previously fired by the hospital before subsequently finding jobs at HSR, said Petrini.

“Just because Yale fired them they can’t work?” asked Hill Alderwoman Dolores Colon. ​“You’re not willing to give them a second chance?”

Myatt said people in that situation will be considered ​“one by one.” It’s not a large group of people, he said. ​“In that bucket you’re probably talking 56, 58.”

Colon later said she thinks those workers should be given another shot. ​“Put them on a probationary period,” she suggested.

Fair Haven Heights Alderwoman Brenda Jones-Barnes (pictured) said she’d spoken with some nervous nurses at HSR who were sure their pay will be cut under YNHH ownership.

Petrini said there are no plans to cut anyone’s pay. ​“No one will lose,” said Myatt.

Hill Alderwoman Jackie James said she heard that Yale will be dismantling the Teamsters union at HSR after two years.

Myatt said that’s untrue.

Alderwoman Colon said she heard that YNHH is firing people for failing credit checks.

Untrue, said Petrini. ​“There’s not credit checks.” The hospital does do criminal background checks, he said.

Monopoly

“I’m concerned about the development of a monopoly,” said Westville Alderman Adam Marchand. Health care is a larger and larger cost for the city, and many of its employees are treated at the two hospitals, Marchand said. ​“We all could be at the mercy of Yale-New Haven.”

“The Federal Trade Commission looked at exactly that issue,” said Petrini. The commission reviewed ​“a million” documents provided by the hospital to ​“understand the impact [the acquisition] would have on the marketplace.” The commission concluded that there would not be an adverse effect.

“We’re going to try to keep those rates where they are,” Petrini said.

After the briefing, Myatt spoke with Clyburn about pension contributions. Yale-New Haven will pay into the 401Ks of its new HSR employees, something that hasn’t happened for four years at HSR, due to the financial straits that hospital has been under.

Clyburn said she plans to call back the nervous constituents who called her, to reassure them about the acquisition.

“I’m just hoping the people asking me are not in that 100 or 200” who will be ​“redundant,” she said.