Unhappy members give legislators inside story on Kingsboro PC

By SHERRY HALBROOK

Nearly 200 PEF members and their

unionized co-workers at Kingsboro Psychiatric Center in Flatbush turned out for a meeting March 12 at the facility to tell their state legislators about serious issues there. “They got an earful,” said PEF Division

252 Treasurer Jasmine Wilson-LaFond, a utilization review coordinator at Kingsboro. State Sen. Eric Adams and Assembly

Member Karim Camara, in whose districts Kingsboro is located, led the legislative delegation on the receiving end of that outpouring from the Kingsboro employees. Sen. Majority Conference Leader John Sampson, Sen. Kevin Parker and Assembly Member Hakeem Jeffries all sent top staff members to the meeting. PEF members told the legislators

mismanagement has put Kingsboro’s future and the quality of patient care on the line. The facility could lose up to $22 million

in federal Medicaid funding this year if it fails to correct problems identified in a survey (inspection) conducted by the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), but PEF members said the problems are far more deeply rooted than the specific issues raised in the survey. “We’ve failed the CMS survey four

times. We never did that before,” said PEF Division 252 steward Bernadette O’Connor, a senior recreation therapist at Kingsboro.

Lawmakers want answers

The meeting with the lawmakers was called by PEF Vice President Pat Baker,

PEF’s labor-relations coordinator and its labor-management chair for the state Office of Mental Health, which operates Kingsboro. Baker said the

BAKER

lawmakers told her they went directly to state Mental Health Commissioner Michael Hogan for some answers before the meeting at

Kingsboro. Hogan assured them OMH is committed to the center, which serves the most populous county in the state, and has hired private consultants to advise OMH on how to bring Kingsboro into compliance with the federal standards. Baker said it’s her understanding the

legislators plan to meet with Hogan again in a few weeks for a lengthier discussion of the situation. “But there was nothing about the

systemic problems that caused Kingsboro to fail the CMS surveys in the first place,” Baker said. “Those are the issues our members raised at the meeting; issues of intimidation, harassment, bullying and retaliation. All of these issues can be resolved only when we have the right kind of spirit of cooperation and mutual respect and trust at Kingsboro.”

Members brave retaliation

Baker said, “I am proud of our

members who had the courage to come and speak up about these issues. It took courage. These members are living in fear. “We wanted this meeting to give them

hope that things can change and trust in the union to work for them,” Baker said.

Wilson-LaFond said she thought the

meeting was successful because it gave the legislators “the chance to hear first- hand what people here are experiencing and what solutions they would like to see. At first, people were too scared to speak. Sometimes we think we are the only ones who have a problem. But when a few spoke up, others found the courage to speak too.” The PEF members who spoke ranged

the gamut from doctors and nurses to social workers, therapists, and supervisors, as well as members from other bargaining units. “We encourage members who could not

come to the meeting to write to their legislators,” Wilson-LaFond said. As a PEF steward, O’Connor said she

frequently hears from members that their professional credentials and expertise are not respected by management. For example, non-clinicians often grill

doctors and nurses on patients’ medications and treatments. Professionals who try to justify their

decisions may be told loudly and publicly to “Shut up!” or to “Leave my meeting.” “They are ordered to do what they are

told immediately or they will be ‘written up,’” O’Connor said. So much administrative interference in

the treatment of patients is undercutting the quality of patient care, the PEF members said, and staff members are bullied into allowing it. “All we want is a work environment

where we can continue to provide excellent patient care,” Wilson-LaFond said. “The patients have always been our top priority.”

CONGRATULATIONS!—PEF activist Marion Fox and Region 11 Coordinator Jemma Hanson show support for Democrat Jose Peralta at a rally in Jackson Heights March 13.He won the election March 16 to fill themid-termvacancy in state Senate District 13 which represents a portion of Queens.PEF endorsed Peralta and Region 11 members worked to help get himelected to the seat formerly held by HiramMonserrate,who was expelled by the Senate after he was convicted ofmisdemeanor assault on his girlfriend.Peralta’s election to the Senate leaves hisAssembly seat vacant in the 39th district. That district includes the Jackson Heights section of Queens. Although Monserrate ran as an independent to regain his seat in this election, he was overwhelmingly rejected by the voters who gave Peralta 65 percent of the vote.Republican Robert Beltrani received 7 percent of the votes.

—Photo by Alan Schulkin

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