Happy Labor Day

 Happy Labor Day and thank you to all workers. Special thank you to all the Labor activists who understand the power of standing together in solidarity. To the members, leaders, and staff of AFT Connecticut, thank you for caring for our students, our patients, and our communities. It has been a trying 18 months since Covid hit. Time and time again you have risen to every wave, every challenge. You have advocated for safety in the workplace, for yourselves and for your students, patients and public you serve. 

Solidarity forever. 

AFT Nurses & Health Professionals AFT Public Employees AFT - American Federation of Teachers

Labor & Delivery at Windham Hospital

I thought this was a great article by Michelle Warren of The Chronicle in Windham, CT  It details why a grassroots community coalition is pushing back against a large healthcare corporation, which has decided that Labor & Delivery services to a rural hospital with a large Hispanic population must end.   

Group protests Windham Hospital plan

MICHELLE WARREN

Chronicle Staff Writer 

WILLIMANTIC — Decades ago, one of Brenda Buchbinder’s three children had to be resuscitated shortly after being born at Windham Community Memorial Hospital. 

During a protest Thursday, she said if she had to ride in an ambulance to another hospital, which WCMH plans to have expectant mothers do, she isn’t sure her daughter would have lived. 

“They worked on her for 45 minutes to bring her back,” said the Willimantic resident, whose daughter is now 36. 

Buchbinder was among a small group of members of the Windham United to Save our HealthCare coalition protesting outside the Willimantic hospital.

The group is concerned about Hartford HealthCare’s proposal to shut down Windham Hospital’s birthing unit. 

Hartford HealthCare officials have cited low birth rates and staff shortages as reasons for their proposal to close the maternity unit. 

Protesters said they gathered 100 signatures on their petition at the Willimantic Food Co-op Wednesday. 

The petition was also available for people to sign during the Willimantic Boom Box Parade on July 4 and during the protest Thursday. 

Cheryl Kapelner-Champ of Pomfret, a retired nurse who worked at Windham Hospital in the 1970s, said she was concerned health care providers may be prioritizing profit “over the suffering of people.” 

“It’s very hard when you’re fighting big, massive, strong companies with powerful attorneys,” she said, referring to Hartford HealthCare. 

Kapelner-Champ said corporations “don’t think like human beings.” 

Hartford HealthCare, which operates WCMH, provided numbers to justify its proposal.

According to the Hartford HealthCare’s website, Windham Hospital has the lowest number of births among Connecticut hospitals and, as a result, has difficulty recruiting providers and staff to continue the service. 

According to Hartford HealthCare, there were only 143 births during fiscal year 2016, 105 during fiscal year 2017, 108 during fiscal year 2018, 106 during fiscal year 2019 and 93 during fiscal year 2020. 

“In its application to the state, Windham Hospital has presented a comprehensive and safe plan that provides the highest level of care for the mothers and babies we serve,” Hartford HealthCare officials said in a statement. 

“Prenatal and postpartum care continues at Windham Hospital and the hospital’s Women Health Services program offers comprehensive care and is welcoming new patients.” 

The Women’s Health Ser-vices program provides services for the physical and emotional well being for women. 

Hartford HealthCare filed a certificate of need application with the State Office of Health Strategy (OHS) on Sept. 3, 2020. 

Before a decision is made on the application, a public hearing will be held to gather input from the community. 

On Thursday, OHS Dir-ector of Communications Laurence Grotheer said a public hearing had not been scheduled yet. 

He said the lead attorney for the certificate of need unit resigned and the goal is to find a replacement for that person soon. 

“We’re in a little bit of a holding pattern now,” Grotheer said. 

He said OHS has the option of issuing conditions when it renders decisions on certificate of need applications. 

The birthing unit plans are a “big blight” for Hartford HealthCare, according to Kapelner-Champ, but she said Hartford HealthCare has also done some good work in the community. 

“People make mistakes,” she said. “They could turn it around.” 

Willimantic resident Anna Marie Lechance, another protester, said this issue concerns both feminists and anti-racists. 

“The lack of transparency really bothers me,” she said. 

According to the Hartford HealthCare website, Wind-ham Hospital will provide transportation to The William W. Backus Hospital in Norwich for those who do not have it. 

The website also indicates expectant women should call 911 when they are ready to deliver and they will be transported to Backus. 

Transportation will also be provided from the Windham Hospital emergency department. 

According to the Hartford HealthCare website, Backus is about 17 miles from Windham Hospital. 

Those who would prefer to deliver their baby at a hospital other than Backus will make arrangements with Dr. Eugene Rozenshteyn, the website indicates. 

Buchbinder said she is concerned about the dangerous roadways people would have to go on to get to other hospitals, such as Backus and Manchester hospital.

The petition is available at the Windham United to Save our HealthCare Facebook page and available for download at bit.ly/3hU3Ici. People can email their signed petition to CONcomment@ct.gov. 

Follow Michelle Warren on Twitter - @mwarrentc

4th term

 Thank you to the 30,000 dedicated educators, healthcare professionals and public servants of AFT Connecticut. Your dedication to your students, patients and the public you serve is an inspiration. 

Today I begin my 4th term as your Executive VP. The opportunity to serve you, alongside my friend and president Jan Hochadel, our leadership team, and our dedicated staff makes this the best job in the world.  

Thank you to our AFT CT Executive Committee VPs, our Local presidents and activists, the officers and staff of AFT - American Federation of Teachers, and my sisters and brothers of AFT Nurses & Health Professionals and the unions of the Connecticut AFL-CIO. 

I am a better person for knowing you. 

We have much work to do. 

EVERY worker deserves a voice.

On this first day of June, hospitalizations in Connecticut are below 100 (94) for the first time since 9/29/20.

It had fallen to below 100 on 6/29/20 and stayed there all summer. 

It’s been a long struggle with Covid. Our healthcare workers have been heroic. Our teachers and school staff have adapted and adapted again. Our public employees have not only kept the essential functions running, they have taken on new and ever changing responsibilities. 

A point of personnel privileged. I am very proud to be part o f a union of professionals, a union of caregivers, educators, and public servants. Words are not enough, but thank you and solidarity my sisters and brothers.

Things are improving, but we’re not done yet.

63% of Connecticut has received at least one vacination and 54% are fully vaccinated. While this is great, demand is slowing and there are still many more to vaccinate, and the unvaccinated and children under 12 are still vulnerable.

Info from DPH today, including this statement:

COVID-19 Control Measures: Healthcare facilities should no longer use crisis capacity strategies for N95s/respirators as the supply and availability of NIOSH-approved respirators has increased and COVID-19 cases rates are reduced. 

This week’s updates for Connecticut Physicians, APRNs, PAs, and RNs from DPH:

 

COVID-19 Epidemiology: COVID-19 case rates are generally low in Connecticut, though hot-spots remain. Unvaccinated individuals remain at risk for COVID-19 infection. As SARS-CoV-2 Variant Surveillance continues, B.1.1.7 remains the most dominant variant in CT.

 

COVID-19 Vaccines: Vaccine safety monitoring, vaccine effectiveness studies, and vaccine breakthrough surveillance are ongoing.

 

Now is the time to be proactive with patient outreach and use existing patient communication channels to reach families with children eligible for COVID-19 vaccine and younger children overdue for routine vaccines.  

• A recommendation from a trusted healthcare professional can make parents feel empowered and ready to vaccinate younger children when ACIP makes that recommendation.
• Commentaries and review articles from experts in this issue of Academic Pediatrics highlight effective strategies to improve vaccination coverage among children and adolescents.
• All healthcare practitioners are encouraged to play an active role in enabling access to COVID-19 vaccines to their patients.
• See the attached pdf for suggestions and scripts for you/your staff to create a video encouraging patients to get vaccinated. 

COVID-19 Control Measures: Healthcare facilities should no longer use crisis capacity strategies for N95s/respirators as the supply and availability of NIOSH-approved respirators has increased and COVID-19 cases rates are reduced. 

• Healthcare facilities should stop using non-NIOSH-approved respirators and consider using any that have been stored for source control where additional respiratory protection is not necessary.
• Respirators that were previously used and decontaminated should not be stored.
• In addition CDC guidance updates, FDA has posted a letter about transition from use of non-NIOSH-approved and decontaminated disposable respirators 

COVID-19 Testing: Check out CDC’s Test for Current Infection guidance to see who should and should not get tested. 

 

Learning Resources to share: Help patients make the decision to get vaccinated using key points from CDC’s Science Brief on COVID-19 vaccines and vaccination.  

• All COVID-19 vaccines authorized for use in the U.S. are effective against COVID-19, including severe disease, hospitalization, and death.
• Available evidence suggests the currently authorized mRNA COVID-19 vaccines provide protection against a variety of strains, including B.1.1.7 and B.1.351.
• A growing body of evidence indicates that people fully vaccinated with an mRNA vaccine are less likely to transmit SARS-CoV-2 to others. Studies are underway to learn more about the benefits of Johnson & Johnson/Janssen vaccine.
• The risk for SARS-CoV-2 infection in fully vaccinated people cannot be completely eliminated as long as there is continued community transmission of the virus.
• At this time, there are limited data on vaccine effectiveness in people who have immunocompromising conditions. Providers should discuss the need for personal protective measures after vaccination with patients with immunocompromising conditions, including those taking immunosuppressive medications. 

CDC’s COCA Call on Evaluating and Caring for Patients with Post-COVID Conditions has been postponed. Enter your email on CDC’s COCA page for clinician outreach/updates from CDC.

 

CT DPH Provider call-in: We are moving to an every-other-week cadence. Please join us next Friday, June 11 for our next Healthcare Updates and Q&A session. Register at: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZIld-6rqzMuE9dMkSPTxj1d_VcGeyWMWKVK 

Happy Aniversary Backus Nurses

10 years ago yesterday, May 11,2011, a group of nurses at Backus Hospital stood together and claimed a voice in the workplace. We formed the Backus Federation of Nurses, AFT Local 5149.

It was not easy. 

But it was worth it. 

Today, because of the dedication of hundreds of nurses, the support of the community and labor, and the expertise of AFT and AFT Connecticut, the Backus Nurses have a voice to advocate for themselves, their families, their community and their parents. 

Thank you to everyone who made this possible and who have worked so hard to make my home local what it is today. 

Solidarity sisters and brothers.