Appleton-It’s unclear if a group of former ThedaCare employees will be allowed to start a new job in northeastern Ascension, Wisconsin on Monday after both medical system lawyers first appeared in court on Friday morning. did.
Uncertainty begins late Thursday and is the latest development in the ongoing battle for health care workers in court. This is because the shortage of staff is putting a strain on the national medical system. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, one in five healthcare professionals has quit their jobs.
ThedaCare temporarily hired seven employees who applied for and accepted jobs at Ascension on Thursday, from the time the Outagamie County judge started working at Ascension on Monday until the medical system could find a replacement for them. Requested to block.
Employees are part of an 11 interventional radiology and cardiovascular team that can take steps to stop bleeding in the target area during trauma and restore blood flow to the brain in the event of a stroke. increase. Each was at-will. In other words, I was not obliged to stay at Theda Care for a certain period of time.
Judge Mark McGinnis of the Outagamie County Circuit granted ThedaCare’s request and held a preliminary hearing on Friday morning. The case will have a longer trial at 10 am on Monday.
McGinnis told both health lawyers that by the end of Friday, efforts should be made to reach a temporary agreement on the employee’s situation until Monday’s hearing.
Otherwise, the order banning them from working in Ascension would be final until further decisions were made, he said. This means that seven health care workers are not working in either hospital on Monday.
“For me, that’s a bad result for everyone involved,” McGinnis said.
In the complaint, ThedaCare’s lawyer wrote that Ascension “shocked” the choice of “poaching” employees during stressful times of health care. According to data from the Wisconsin Hospital Association, more COVID-19 patients are currently admitted to Fox Valley than at any other time during the pandemic, and ThedaCare has canceled non-urgent surgery to make space.
Related: ThedaCare urges court to temporarily suspend traumatic employees from moving to Ascension after seven strokes
Related: ThedaCare postpones non-urgent selective surgery amid staff shortages and an increase in COVID-19 cases
Employees were not hired, but decided to apply for a classified ad instead, according to a statement on Thursday at Ascension. According to the statement, it was Ascension’s understanding that ThedaCare had the opportunity to make a counter offer but was rejected.
Sean Bosack, a lawyer on behalf of ThedaCare Friday, said the loss of the majority of these employees poses a health threat to the community, as the healthcare system Neenah Hospital is a hub for high-level stroke and trauma treatment. Insisted.
ThedaCare-Neenah is a Level II trauma center, some of which means there are specialists like interventional radiologists available on a regular basis to treat patients. Ascension St. Elizabeth Hospital, a Level III trauma center, can provide initial support to trauma patients and transfer them to ThedaCare-Neenah for more care, as defined by the Wisconsin Department of Health. ..
ThedaCare’s Neenah facility is also a comprehensive stroke center. This also means that professionals are available on a regular basis. Ascension St. Elizabeth is the primary stroke center and does not require 24-hour staffing.
Within the time it takes to transfer a local patient in need of emergency treatment for a stroke or trauma to another similarly accredited hospital, the patient may die, Bossac said.
Attorney David Muth, Attorney for Ascension Friday, said hospitals could take care of such patients as needed, even if they were not designated at the same level as ThedaCare.
Muth argues that ThedaCare will take weeks to come up with better suggestions for retaining employees and finding alternative staffing solutions, instead so that workers start with Ascension. I chose to file a proceeding a few days ago. As a result, “ThedaCare’s own creation was confusing.”
In a complaint, ThedaCare’s lawyer learned on December 21 that the organization had accepted Ascension’s offer by four interventional radiology technicians, and on December 29, two nurses were the same. I learned that I am planning to make a move. On January 7, they learned one additional nurse planning to quit and work at Ascension.
Muth said Ascension provided employees with a better reward package that ThedaCare did not match.
Timothy Bryster, a resident of Appleton and one of the seven employees involved in the system dispute, submitted a letter to McGinnis on Friday explaining his experience.
One of his colleagues received a compelling offer from Ascension that “improved not only wages, but also a balance between work and life.” This allowed other members of his team to apply.
After approaching ThedaCare with the opportunity to match a given offer, Breister wrote that “the long-term cost to ThedaCare is not worth the short-term cost” and no counter offer will be made. I am.
Please contact the reporter Madeline Heim (920-996-7266 or mheim@gannett.com). Follow her on her Twitter @madeline_heim..
