Archive for November, 2009
Union approves contract at Sutter Roseville Medical Center
The Service Employees International Union, United Healthcare Workers-West has overwhelmingly approved a new three-year contract with Sutter Roseville Medical Center.
Sutter Roseville officials said 46 percent of 617 SEIU-UHW-represented employees ratified the contract by a vote of 242-45, or 84 percent approval. SEIU-UHW confirmed the 84 percent figure.
Votes were tabulated late Friday.
Also on Monday, it was confirmed that registered nurses have ratified a new pact with Catholic Healthcare West, which runs the Sacramento area’s Mercy hospitals. The new contract, formally approved Nov. 13, provides a 20 percent wage increase over four years at about 30 hospitals across California and Nevada.
About 2,200 nurses work for Catholic Healthcare West hospitals in the capital region. The pact also includes beefed-up protections against pandemics such as the spread of the H1N1 virus.
A key provision of the SEIU-UHW contract with Sutter Roseville is a minimum pay raise of more than 16 percent over three years.
Union officials also lauded the contract for maintaining a ban on subcontracting efforts by the hospital and for protecting employer-paid health care.
“By staying strong and united, we were able to demonstrate to Sutter management our commitment to quality, well-trained staff and to providing quality care to the community,” said Nicole Otewalt, an operating room technician and bargaining team member.
“We’re proud to have outstanding employees who provide exceptional patient care,” said Patrick Brady, CEO of Sutter Roseville. “Our employees can now receive their well-deserved wage increases in these challenging economic times.”
The union said the new Sutter contract includes:
• Pay increases over three years of 5.5 percent immediately, 2.25 percent in May, 4.25 percent in May 2011 and 3.5 percent in May 2012. SEIU-UHW noted that the raises, compounded over three years, add up to 16.39 percent.
• Maintains language banning subcontracting and prevents staff transfers to other Sutter facilities.
• No cuts in health care. Coverage includes six months of paid benefits for those on non-industry-related medical leave.
SEIU-UHW represents technical workers – such as housekeepers, radiological technicians, operating room technicians and certified nursing assistants – at Sutter Roseville.
SEIU-UHW workers at the hospital have been without a contract for about 18 months, and negotiations were slowed by an internal dispute within the union. An attempt by some workers to decertify the unit in August failed when the union was retained on a 327-225 vote.
Tough to stay jolly in line
Even in the gloom of a recession, tinged by the threat of H1N1 flu, throngs of people will soon be out there holiday shopping. And sometimes, it may seem like they’re all in line ahead of you.
But as long as the line you’re standing in moves efficiently, and especially if there are treats to nibble or mirrors to preen in, you might not feel so bad about the time you spend waiting, say those who have studied line psychology.
“Perceived waiting time is almost more important than reality,” said Gail Tom, a marketing professor at California State University, Sacramento.
Tom, who has studied lines in grocery stores, said delayed customers forgive events such as a malfunctioning register or a slow-moving customer, but they don’t overlook clerks who are too chatty or indifferently slow.
Tom and other “queueing theory” scientists have scrutinized people waiting in line to buy groceries, deposit money in bank accounts and board elevators. Even police responses to 911 calls have been analyzed.
Generally, researchers conclude that many factors – even body temperature – can influence a person’s perception of how long or short their time in line is, which might have nothing to do with actual time.
Diversions, such as free food samples around the checkout line or a pianist in the lobby, can lower perceived wait times and complaints, research shows.
So can appealing to vanity, it seems.
In the post-World War II era, complaints about long waits and jam-packed elevators in high-rise offices and apartments in New York City puzzled engineers, according to a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor.
Adding more elevator shafts was impractical. But ceiling-to-floor mirrors placed by elevator doors provided a distraction for people mesmerized by their own reflections. Complaints dropped faster than an express elevator.
Providing wait times in advance – such as airline pilots giving estimated departure times – also seems to reduce customer irritation.
Some crowd-pleasing techniques that have emerged include the single line feeding into all registers, dedicated lines for returns or other prolonged transactions and express lines, said Alexandra Sotereanos Sneed of McMillan/Doolittle, a Chicago-based retail consultant.
In New York City, shoppers used to haphazardly snake down aisles of Whole Foods stores, pressing toward 35 to 40 open cash registers during rush hours. Other shoppers couldn’t jostle through the lines to reach shelves. You could almost watch a half-hour sitcom before you reached a register.
Something had to give.
Several years ago, at its Columbia Circle and Union Square stores in Manhattan, the gourmet grocer switched to a single line, using video monitors with flashing colors to signal an open register.
“It was warmly received by customers,” said Michael Sinatra, a spokesman for the grocer’s northeast region.
The single-line method, common at other types of retailers, was almost revolutionary for a grocery store.
“Even more than attracting new customers, we’re not losing customers because they have to wait,” Sinatra said.
Borders has long used the single checkout line, said Mary Davis, a spokeswoman for the Michigan-based book seller. “It’s more equitable and faster,” she said.
Briefly, the company experimented at a few stores in 2008 with lines at every register.
Checkout times slowed. Customers complained and the experiment quickly folded.
Simply eliminating delays doesn’t guarantee satisfied customers, says Richard Larson, a professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology whose study of lines has earned him the nickname Dr. Queue.
A system that allows someone to skip to a newly opened register line ahead of others who have waited longer results in a kind of infuriating “social injustice” that turns off customers, his research found.
Sacramento State professor Tom found that the same retailers could serve two distinct customers: those who want to get in and out and those who enjoy interacting with clerks.
“It’s not a blanket caveat to move people out as fast as possible,” she said.
For those who value a speedy exit, however, the technology is stepping up, Sneed said. More stores are installing self-serve checkouts. At some retailers, such as Apple, employees on the floor carry a hand-held device to accept payment from customers after waiting on them.
Still, despite all these attempts to improve checkout efficiency, there’s one thing retailers can’t seem to change.
“Here’s the problem: Everybody shops at the same time,” Sneed said.
Tough to stay jolly in line
Even in the gloom of a recession, tinged by the threat of H1N1 flu, throngs of people will soon be out there holiday shopping. And sometimes, it may seem like they’re all in line ahead of you.
But as long as the line you’re standing in moves efficiently, and especially if there are treats to nibble or mirrors to preen in, you might not feel so bad about the time you spend waiting, say those who have studied line psychology.
“Perceived waiting time is almost more important than reality,” said Gail Tom, a marketing professor at California State University, Sacramento.
Tom, who has studied lines in grocery stores, said delayed customers forgive events such as a malfunctioning register or a slow-moving customer, but they don’t overlook clerks who are too chatty or indifferently slow.
Tom and other “queueing theory” scientists have scrutinized people waiting in line to buy groceries, deposit money in bank accounts and board elevators. Even police responses to 911 calls have been analyzed.
Generally, researchers conclude that many factors – even body temperature – can influence a person’s perception of how long or short their time in line is, which might have nothing to do with actual time.
Diversions, such as free food samples around the checkout line or a pianist in the lobby, can lower perceived wait times and complaints, research shows.
So can appealing to vanity, it seems.
In the post-World War II era, complaints about long waits and jam-packed elevators in high-rise offices and apartments in New York City puzzled engineers, according to a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor.
Adding more elevator shafts was impractical. But ceiling-to-floor mirrors placed by elevator doors provided a distraction for people mesmerized by their own reflections. Complaints dropped faster than an express elevator.
Providing wait times in advance – such as airline pilots giving estimated departure times – also seems to reduce customer irritation.
Some crowd-pleasing techniques that have emerged include the single line feeding into all registers, dedicated lines for returns or other prolonged transactions and express lines, said Alexandra Sotereanos Sneed of McMillan/Doolittle, a Chicago-based retail consultant.
In New York City, shoppers used to haphazardly snake down aisles of Whole Foods stores, pressing toward 35 to 40 open cash registers during rush hours. Other shoppers couldn’t jostle through the lines to reach shelves. You could almost watch a half-hour sitcom before you reached a register.
Something had to give.
Several years ago, at its Columbia Circle and Union Square stores in Manhattan, the gourmet grocer switched to a single line, using video monitors with flashing colors to signal an open register.
“It was warmly received by customers,” said Michael Sinatra, a spokesman for the grocer’s northeast region.
The single-line method, common at other types of retailers, was almost revolutionary for a grocery store.
“Even more than attracting new customers, we’re not losing customers because they have to wait,” Sinatra said.
Borders has long used the single checkout line, said Mary Davis, a spokeswoman for the Michigan-based book seller. “It’s more equitable and faster,” she said.
Briefly, the company experimented at a few stores in 2008 with lines at every register.
Checkout times slowed. Customers complained and the experiment quickly folded.
Simply eliminating delays doesn’t guarantee satisfied customers, says Richard Larson, a professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology whose study of lines has earned him the nickname Dr. Queue.
A system that allows someone to skip to a newly opened register line ahead of others who have waited longer results in a kind of infuriating “social injustice” that turns off customers, his research found.
Sacramento State professor Tom found that the same retailers could serve two distinct customers: those who want to get in and out and those who enjoy interacting with clerks.
“It’s not a blanket caveat to move people out as fast as possible,” she said.
For those who value a speedy exit, however, the technology is stepping up, Sneed said. More stores are installing self-serve checkouts. At some retailers, such as Apple, employees on the floor carry a hand-held device to accept payment from customers after waiting on them.
Still, despite all these attempts to improve checkout efficiency, there’s one thing retailers can’t seem to change.
“Here’s the problem: Everybody shops at the same time,” Sneed said.
Carmichael doctor’s sex-crimes sentencing delayed again
For the third time since he was convicted of sexually exploiting two of his patients, former Kaiser plastic surgeon Dr. Scott Takasugi was able to dodge a prison cell Friday, but his time is running out fast.
Sacramento Superior Court Judge Steve White issued a no-bail warrant when Takasugi failed to show up for his sentencing after the defendant’s father died the night before. White stayed the issuance of the warrant, however, until 9 a.m. Monday, when it looks like the one-time doctor from Carmichael will get his expected term of three years and eight months.
“I do believe he will show up and that it will happen on Monday,” Deputy District Attorney Keith Hill said outside the courtroom Friday.
Takasugi, 56, who was arrested in June 2006, pleaded no contest June 5 to two counts of sexually exploiting patients. He had been charged in a 21-count complaint that included seven charges that he sexually penetrated his unconscious victims and that he raped two more.
He initially had been scheduled for sentencing on Oct. 9, but that was continued to Oct. 23, which in turn was set to Friday, a little more than 12 hours after the former physician’s 87-year-old father died due to what his lawyer described as multiple organ failure. Defense attorney Ted W. Cassman asked the judge for a week’s continuance, which the prosecutor vigorously opposed.
Hill said in court, “I don’t want to look harsh,” but he added that Takasugi had acted as if he were “above the law” and that the delays are keeping the victims from moving on with their lives.
“Not only did the crime take an emotional toll on them, but with each court appearance, and the preparation for each court appearance, it causes another significant impact,” Hill said. “I just feel for the victims and feel they deserve some closure.”
Two of the women appeared in court with friends and family Friday, and the father of one of them said, “It just seems the wheels of justice turn very slowly.”
“It’s been three and a half years since he was turned in,” said the man, whose name is being withheld because it would serve to identify his daughter. “It’s taken a toll on the victims and their families.”
California, Sacramento County to probe in-home care
Jan Scully, Sacramento County district attorney, announces a new joint task force on In-Home Supportive Services fraud.
California teamed with Sacramento County officials Thursday to launch a first-in-the-state multi-agency task force to investigate fraud in In-Home Supportive Services.
The program could benefit from the state budget approved last July that included $10 million to bolster anti-fraud efforts in the rapidly growing in-home care program.
The task force model brings together county, state and U.S. Social Security Administration and other federal investigators. The effort includes more cross-checking of databases to detect fraud.
Norman Williams, a spokesman for the California Department of Health Care Services, said talks are under way about forming other task forces in Los Angeles, Fresno, San Diego and Riverside counties.
Two state in-home care investigators have now been assigned full time to Sacramento County, which could get $1.7 million in anti-fraud funding. Nineteen other investigators work statewide, many in Los Angeles, Williams said.
Another $26 million from federal and county money is earmarked to deter fraud with new background checks and orientation sessions that warn of the consequences of fraud.
Flanked by team members in black shirts reading “IHSS Fraud Task Force,” District Attorney Jan Scully also announced the arrest Wednesday of 12 people in Sacramento County who are accused of defrauding the program or other social services.
The 12 are accused of bilking government systems out of more than $352,400.
“This arrest sweep that we had yesterday,” Scully said, “was what I refer to as an early warning shot over the bow, so to speak, that our task force is up and running and aggressively looking for fraud.”
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, in particular, has suggested the program is riddled with fraud, although the administration has been unable to provide a reliable estimate.
Scully said that she has no estimate for how much fraud exists but that her office has discovered “red flags” pointing toward schemes.
Federal dollars pay for half the in-home care program, which serves about 400,000, with the state, counties and care recipients paying the rest.
The program’s intent is to allow low-income seniors and disabled people to remain at home with the help of caregivers rather than placing them in nursing homes, which can cost five times more in public money.
“Detecting fraud earlier,” said Susan Peters, chairwoman of the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors, “and cutting funds off sooner to perpetrators of fraud ensure that program funds go to people truly in need, not to people trying to rip off the system.”
Scully said those arrested Wednesday allegedly stole a total of $138,907 in in-home care money, and one man bilked Social Security for about $70,000.
A family is accused of bilking the in-home care program by pretending a daughter was mentally disabled, while also collecting $128,608 in child-care subsidies.
IN THE KNOW
The Sacramento County In-Home Support Services Task Force has established a toll-free number and e-mail address to report suspected fraud.
• The number is (866) 410-4040
• The e-mail address is ihssfraud@sacda.org