PEF President Wayne Spence issued the following statement in reaction to the proposal by SUNY Upstate Medical University to buy Crouse Hospital, a non-profit facility in Syracuse.
“SUNY Upstate Medical University’s bid to acquire Crouse Hospital presents a huge range of complex issues that must be closely considered. PEF deserves a seat at the table to talk through the complications that are sure to arise when two separate unionized workforces merge. To cite just one example — employees doing the same work could be subject to two different collective bargaining agreements with different benefits. To this point, no reason or justification has been provided to us for why Upstate is privatizing part of their healthcare system when it is clear that SUNY Upstate, a public hospital, is fully taking over Crouse and all its obligations. We await answers and trust that State lawmakers will ask questions throughout the approval process as well.”