The most recent Inter-Regional meeting in the Western Region brought focus and action.

NYSNA members at Olean General Hospital (OGH) talked healthcare economics, safe staffing, and how best to track DSRIP (Delivery System Reform Incentive Payment) funding and its implementation in their hospital.

Strong healthcare economy

NYSNA Board Member and OGH RN Kris Powell opened the meeting with an overview of NYSNA’s recent lobbying efforts for safe staffing. Ms. Powell reported that State Senator Cathy Young (D-Livingston County) has not yet signed onto the staffing bill, adding: “You can bet we’ll be knocking on her door about that.”

The healthcare economy is thriving in this rural area in the southwest corner of the state, where consolidations have led to additions to large healthcare systems like Catholic Health, Buffalo’s Kaleida Health and Upper Allegheny Health System. Bradford Regional, Olean General’s parent company, posted its third straight year of profitability in 2014, with Olean General itself reporting profit of $1.6 million. Despite this strong bottom line, OGH continues to ask employees to do more with less, as evidenced by its reluctance to staff appropriately and implementing a $1 million cut in the supplies budget.

High RN turnover

In the course of the meeting, many RNs spoke of understaffing and its effects on patients. Several nurses identified a disturbing trend: a high rate of RN turnover. More experienced nurses are frustrated with staffing and are leaving; they, in turn, are replaced by less experienced nurses who do not remain long on the job. In the environment of constant turnover, OGH has spent millions of dollars retraining nurses over the past decade, according to RN estimates.

The members also received an update on the DSRIP program, a statewide initiative designed to reduce avoidable hospital use and better coordinate patient care to meet the needs of communities. Olean General is part of the Millennium Care Collaborative PPS (Performing Provider System) that will be awarded funds to aid in targeting areas that can be improved through consolidation of services, or through the addition of staff. NYSNA encourages all members to monitor how DSRIP is being implemented in their facility to ensure that funds are spent as specified in the applications approved by the state.