"New coalition fears for Caritas’s Catholic identity" by Bonnie Kavoussi, Globe Correspondent | July 28, 2010
A newly formed group opposed to the proposed sale of Caritas Christi Health Care to a New York private equity firm wants the hospital chain to keep operating independently or merge with another Catholic health care provider.
This article is available in our archives:
I sure am glad I clipped it.
So who wants to do battle with the devil?
At a press conference yesterday, members of the Coalition to Save Catholic Health Care said the six-hospital nonprofit Caritas could eventually lose its Catholic identity if bought by Cerberus Capital Management....
See: Catholic Caritas Makes Deal With the Devil
The Massachusetts Model: Devil Defends Catholic Health Care
Catholic Caritas Didn't Read Devil's Fine Print
Does the Devil Have a Deal For You!
Just sign in blood on the dotted line.
The coalition includes four Catholic or antiabortion organizations....
If they are fighting the devil they must be GOOD, right?
--more--"
Related: After sale, Caritas will convert R.I. hospital to Catholic facility
Opponents of Caritas sale call on the pope
I don't know about him or the institution given the pooper-pumping.
Then again, it makes a perfect match, doesn't it?
And just who is that doctor taking care of you in Cambridge?
"Cambridge health group seeks buyer or partner" by Robert Weisman, Globe Staff | August 13, 2010
Financially struggling Cambridge Health Alliance — which runs Cambridge Hospital, Somerville Hospital, and Whidden Memorial Hospital in Everett — is seeking a buyer or an affiliation with another Boston area health care provider.
Cambridge Health Alliance, whose “safety net’’ hospitals serve a large population of Medicaid patients and low-income immigrants....
The hospital group has since hired Cain Brothers, a New York investment bank specializing in health care deals, to pursue a partnership, the people with knowledge of the discussions said....
Didn't he kill his own brother?
The cost pressures on Cambridge Health Alliance, which was formed through a 1996 merger of formerly city-owned hospitals, have intensified in recent years. State government officials, struggling to balance the budget, backed off on a plan to boost reimbursements for Medicaid, the insurance program serving low-income residents.
At the same time, the state plans to phase out about $90 million in annual payments to offset the cost of serving uninsured and underinsured patients at the organization’s hospitals.
Gee, we cut a check for that to banks every month.
Meanwhile, a recent accounting change increased pension costs for about 1,400 of its employees by nearly $10 million annually.
Why don't we care for the SICK NOW first!?
Cambridge Health Alliance, partly in response to pressure from state government, has taken steps to rein in costs. Over the past 18 months, it has eliminated about 400 jobs, reducing its workforce to just under 3,000. It has also pared 35 psychiatric beds, about half its total, and converted Somerville Hospital to an outpatient-only site.
Related: Beverly hospital group to cut jobs
Also see: The Health of the Massachusetts Economy
The organization’s attempt to reduce retiree health benefits for some Cambridge Hospital nurses by about 40 percent in response to the accounting change resulted in a standoff with the Massachusetts Nurses Association last month.
The union lodged an unfair labor practice charge against the hospital group after it declared an impasse in contract bargaining. A state Division of Labor Relations investigator sided with the union....
The budget cuts have strengthened Cambridge Health Alliance’s financial position, potentially making it a more attractive partner. While the organization lost $27 million in fiscal 2009, the most recent period for which it reported results, it is expected to post a narrower loss or even a slight gain in the current fiscal year, said Doug Bailey, a Cambridge Health Alliance spokesman.
An outright acquisition of the hospital group could be complicated by its status as a quasi-public institution....
Deals with the devil always are!
