Wanting again on his disgusting legacy to commemorate UPMC CEO Romov’s retirement | Information | Pittsburgh

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CP Photo: Ryan Deto

UPMC workers striked downtown Pittsburgh on the 1st of 2018

On July 28, Jeffrey Lomov, CEO of Healthcare Monolith UPMC, announced that he would retire and spend the next few months helping UPMC transition leadership.

75-year-old Romov, Said in a press release “We are proud to have led UPMC in an era of extraordinary growth,” he said. “We are now at a time of stability and success, overcoming challenges and a fully integrated healthcare system. Has grown into. ”

Technically operated as a non-profit organization and headquartered in Pittsburgh, UPMC has grown exponentially over the years and its financial strength is undeniable. It is one of the largest employers in Pennsylvania. Rich Fitzgerald, an executive at Allegheny County, said Lomov was a health care giant and “the economic and medical benefits to southwestern Pennsylvania were tremendous under his leadership.” Said.

However, not all leaders consider Lomov’s heritage to be overwhelmingly positive.Democratic candidate and perhaps Pittsburgh mayoral election EdgainyCampaigning to challenge UPMC’s non-profit status, the Pittsburgh people boosted UPMC’s growth through premium payments and tax subsidies, saying, “Our health care system is a complex financial fraud. You need to heal, not heal. ” Under Romov’s rule, Congressman Dan Frankel said UPMC used its strengths and expertise to extract from the Pittsburgh community.

Pittsburgh City Paper Documents several breaches committed by the UPMC over the years under Romov’s leadership, which began in 2006. This includes closing regional hospitals in the affected areas, prioritizing profits over patients and workers, and even if landowners do not have to pay property taxes, their own facilities, union crushing, and community interests. Disregard.

Lomov says power and the giants in his field are accurate, but like other giants, the CEO of UPMC is trampling on many other little people. This is just one example of the controversial decision made by the UPMC under Romov’s leadership.

Closed a program aimed at benefiting Bradock’s poor mother, and then closed the entire Bradock hospital

In January 2009, three years after Romov became CEO, UPMC has shut down a program designed to help addicted pregnant women And a new mother suffering from the homeless. The program was small and accommodated 5 clients at a time during a 90-day stay.

UPMC said it was cutting programs at the time as a cost-cutting measure. At the same time, the health care giant announced plans to expand and build cancer centers in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia.

Then, in October 2009, UPMC announced its next plan. Completely close the UPMC BradockQuoted a million dollar loss. The closure led to strong community protests and references to other UPMC expansion plans.

Accusation of establishing a culture that prioritizes benefits over patient health

NS The Wall Street Journal In 2008, Amadeo Marcos, a former UPMC transplant manager, reported that he had promised to “double the number of liver transplants performed by the hospital.” Suspicious practice It’s like taking more liver from an older donor and transplanting it into a relatively healthy patient. He also used partial liver from a living donor and then conservatively described transplant-related complications.

Marcos Pittsburgh Tribune-Review Research The controversial transplant practice was announced.

Marcos’ predecessor, Dr. John von, WSJ He couldn’t square his ethics to what was happening at UPMC.according to WSJ, Marcos and Lomov “seen eyes and eyes on quantity and profit.”

Union busts every turn

Despite record profits, aggressive expansion plans, and large-scale investments in new facilities, UPMC under Romov sometimes violated labor law and did everything with its power. Stop union activities Among its many hospital workers.

Workers at UPMC hospitals throughout the region have been trying to form trade unions for nearly a decade.

In 2013, UPMC revived two workers Dismissed for union organization After the complaint has been submitted to the National Labor Relations Board. Dismissing an employee for a trade union violates federal law. That same year, the UPMC resolved complaints with more than 80 accusations of unfair labor practices with trade union SEIU Healthcare.

According to the 2014 NLRB decision, UPMC was engaged in the following “unfair labor practices”: Intimidation to ban employees from wearing union insignia due to low reputation for those engaged in union activities.. UPMC has also established an “illegal company union” called the Service Employees International Union (ESS) as a means of undermining legitimate union activity.

Pittsburgh misleads the public early in the pandemic by claiming to have a less deadly COVID-19 strain.

In July 2020, UPMC claimed that a strain of COVID-19 was found in western Pennsylvania. It “looks easy to get infected, but it’s not fatal.” A week later, Spotlight PA discovered: UPMC’s claim lacked sufficient research..

Spotlight PA talked to several virologists Epidemiologists have concluded that the “non-fatal” stock claim is “not supported by current research.” They also spoke with UPMC staff who cited scientific research that contradicted the claim.

This happened at the same time that UPMC opposed an order to stop the execution of selective procedures. The number of COVID-19 cases began to surge in July, with an average of about 200 cases per day in Allegheny County in early July, so an open letter from nearly 300 staff stopped selective treatment in the hospital system. I asked you to do it.

We provided in-house health insurance to UPMC employees.

according to Nila PeytonA longtime employee of UPMC, a hospital system worker, is trapped in what she describes as an unjustified UPMC health insurance plan, and then straddles medical debt from her employer. UPMC has its own health insurance company.

“Many of my colleagues don’t make a living, not to mention soaring wages, but they also owe UPMC because of soaring medical costs and insurance looting clauses,” Payton said in an interview. Said. City paper 2019..

According to Peyton, employee insurance plans have high out-of-pocket and deductions, and as a result, many UPMC workers owe UPMC thousands of dollars in medical debt.

Leslie Poston, UPMC Presbyterian’s Breast Cancer Survivor and Administrative Assistant, said: WESA Her medical costs are so high that she can no longer go to an oncologist. She says this was especially scary because she didn’t know if her cancer would recur.

Raised the wages of hospital staff and continued to increase his own salary, even before fighting to avoid property tax payments

Lomov has received some significant salary increases over the last few years.according to TribLiveIn 2018, Lomov saw an increase of $ 430,000, and in 2019 it saw an increase of $ 530,000, with an annual salary of $ 9.5 million.

All this happened before UPMC plans to raise the minimum wage to $ 15 per hour. It also happened because UPMC continued to avoid paying property taxes on some valuable parcels owned throughout Pittsburgh and Allegheny County.

UPMC funded Pittsburgh’s OnePGH project and helped create a new downtown homeless shelter, Critics point out Those payments are insignificant compared to the property tax you would pay if you were not exempt.

Ed Gainey, the next mayor of Pittsburgh, has vowed to challenge UPMC’s tax exemption status in the hope that the hospital system and other large nonprofits will pay property taxes.

Looking back on his disgusting legacy to commemorate UPMC CEO Romov’s retirement | News | Pittsburgh

Source link Looking back on his disgusting legacy to commemorate UPMC CEO Romov’s retirement | News | Pittsburgh

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