Massena Memorial Hospital employees and community members grimly look on as CEO Robert Wollebin presents a slideshow explaining MMH officials’ push to privatize. NorthCountryNow photo by Andy …
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Massena Memorial Hospital employees and community members grimly look on as CEO Robert Wollebin presents a slideshow explaining MMH officials’ push to privatize. NorthCountryNow photo by Andy Gardner.
By ANDY GARDNER
MASSENA -- Massena Memorial Hospital CEO Robert Wollebin and town lawmakers say if the hospital affiliates with a larger organization, they would negotiate a deal to keep at least 345 jobs. However, MMH employees still fear for their jobs should the institute privatize.
“We will commit for three years that it won’t go below 345 (full-time equivalents),” Wollebin said. He was speaking a Wednesday presentation at a Town Council meeting that drew more than 50 MMH employees and community members.
After months of silence on the issue, MMH issued a statement earlier in the month stating they would renew their push to persuade the town board to allow them to pursue private, non-profit status.
Several MMH workers said they aren’t conviced that officials can live up to the pledge.
“How do you guarantee anything like that would even be possible if you have to affiliate?” said a female MMH worker who did not identify herself. How do you make any kind of guarantees when you don’t have the upper hand?”
“Whatever transfer agreement, if we go this way … we’re going to make demands on that not-for-profit. We’re going to say we’re not going to sign,” Town Supervisor Joseph Gray said.
A second woman who also did not identify herself was worried about having to reapply for her own job and possibly compete for it if the hospital changes corporations.
“What are the intentions going to be to our employees … it would be a shame to have to go through that process, are we going to expect to apply for our own jobs all over again,” the second woman said.
“We’re prepared to accept everybody, you’d have to fill out an application … this is not unusual … we’re not looking to eliminate anybody. It happened in Gouverneur, they said one thing and did another. I’m not that guy,” Wollebin replied.
A female MMH worker who did not give her name said she convinced her husband, also an MMH employee, to relocate to the North Country based on what they thought was job security.
“We might affiliate, then there goes [obstetrics], there goes the lab, what’s next? I thought we were good. Nobody’s good,” the third woman said. “We need something firm so we know we can still contribute to this town … we love it here, we are still here. We are grasping at straws now, we’re standing in sand.”
The Massena Town Hall’s boardroom was standing room only on Wednesday for a presentation on Massena Memorial Hospital privatization.
In an attempt to belay her fears, Gray pointed to Rose Hill Rehabilitation Center’s recent affiliation with St. Joseph’s.
He said Rose Hill, which had reduced from 30 beds to 14, now is adding beds again because St. Joe’s sends adolescent patients to Massena.
“We have smartboards in the education rooms we never had before,” Gray said.
What those organizations had going for them that MMH doesn’t is they are both private, non-profit entities.
Wollebin said since MMH is town-owned, the state will not allow them to put public money at risk, which means they can’t affiliate because it requires just that.
He said new federal and state regulations for determining who hospitals get Medicare patients, which would be a big boon for MMH, are considered to be “at-risk” ventures.
“In the next year or two, somebody is going to determine where those Medicare enrollees are going to get their medical care,” he said.
Despite the fact that MMH lost millions in operating costs over several years and is now only in the black by the skin of their teeth, Wollebin said they would still be attractive to a larger health network like Burlington or Syracuse.
“We are worth something to somebody. It’s called patients referrals. If an affiliate were to look at us, they may be able to do something to consolidate those referrals,” he said, adding that they could use MMH as a site for medical education programs, more commonly called residencies.
A decision on MMH’s future could come by the end of the year.
“I don’t know when that … is going to happen. I believe it should happen in December,” Gray said.