Florez To Hold Public Hearing on Care Provided by Fresno Hospital
Sen. Dean Florez (D-Bakersfield) on Wednesday will convene a public hearing on expectations for care provided by Community Medical Center in Fresno under a contract with the county, the Fresno Bee reports. However, CMC officials will not attend the hearing because of legal concerns about meeting with a representative of the California Nurses Association. The two groups have been in labor negotiations for over a year. CNA representatives have been asked to attend the meeting.
Florez said the hearing will continue as planned, and CMC officials who do not attend do so "at their own peril." The hearing is scheduled for Feb. 9 at 5 p.m.
Florez said the hearing was meant as "a discussion regarding the expectation of services" to Fresno County. He said his office has received "numerous constituent inquiries" and has heard "great confusion regarding the level scope and quality of care" that CMC is required to provide at University Medical Center, an issue that "can be resolved only through a thorough and open discussion of the contractual agreement" CMC signed with Fresno County in 1996.
CMC Vice President John Zelezny said, "From what I understand, it's a forum at which parties are engaged in a formal, federally mediated labor negotiation process." Zelezny added, "[C]orrespondence from our lawyer speaks for itself as to why it is not a good idea" for CMC representatives to attend (Correa, Fresno Bee, 2/3).