By Allison Dunckle, Ariel Hofher and Sharvonne Williams
Bengal News Reporters
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| Union protesters at the Mattina health center |
The public outcry was directed toward Kaleida Health, a large non-profit Western New York health care provider that recently decided to shut down the Judge Joseph S. Mattina Community Health Center, an important medical facility and resource for West Side residents. Budget cuts, federal health reforms and loss of revenue. have left Kaleida unable to continue to provide services at the center’s 300 Niagara St. location. The decision to close was not warmly embraced within the community.
“Kaleida Health has been less than honest in the plans for this clinic,” said John E. Klein, president of the CWA Local 1168. “This is the fourth time in four years that they have tried to close. We feel that they have lied to politicians, patients and the community.”
The Northwest Buffalo Community Health Center is expected to take over Kaleida’s ownership of the health center with an emphasis on stronger primary care services, according to a press release provided by Michael Hughes, vice president for Marketing, Public Relations and Government Affairs at Kaleida Health. According to the release, Northwest will provide mental health and substance abuse services as well as other primary and preventive care to patients of all ages and incomes.
Ellicott District Councilmember Darius Pridgen speaks about concern over new ownership of the Mattina health center:
Ellicott District Councilmember Darius Pridgen speaks about concern over new ownership of the Mattina health center:
However, Klein said that Kaleida has not been upfront with their dealings with Northwest to take over the clinic.
“Up until a month ago, they denied that there was any plan, but internal paperwork shows they were working on it for several months,” he said
Cori Gambini, a registered nurse and executive vice president of the CWA Local 1168, does not expect Northwest will be as accommodating for lower-income West Side patients as Kaleida.
“(Northwest) doesn’t see walk-ins, and at least 40 patients a day are walk ins,” she said. “These patients need quick access to care. They have to have insurance to be able to get services at Northwest.”
Klein said that Kaleida has also closed over a dozen clinics within the last four years that serve “a high Medicaid cliental.”
“This area needs more services than we currently have and I feel in the short term
this will not be good for the West Side residents,” Klein said.
Marsha Wells, registered nurse at Millard Fillmore Gates Hospital, was one of the protestors who hoped the rally would “raise awareness… mostly of how bad closing this particular (health center) is going to effect Buffalo and the people who live here.”
According to Wells, at least 50 of the 200 employees of the health center will lose their jobs, and those who stay will be knocked down from full time to part time per diem at with reduced pay and benefits.
“This is a real loss for the community,” she said.
“My Kindergarteners are Better Listeners than my Governor!”
ReplyDelete“Egypt= 18 days, Wisconsin= ??”
“Union Workers Won the Super Bowl!”
These were just some of the messages written on picket signs and activist art that protesters in Wisconsin held to get their point across to protect unionization and collective bargaining. According to The Chicago Tribune, some were so creative they may even be preserved in the Smithsonian and the Wisconsin Historical Society to someday become historic artifacts.
What does this have to do with the Kaleida Health protest in Buffalo? In addition to protesting budget cuts that compromise worker’s rights and fair pay, the crowds in Buffalo also exercised their First Amendment rights through creating their own placards. Though most messages at the protest were fairly standard (such as “Stop the War on Workers!), one message read, “From Wisconsin to Buffalo, Make Banks Pay!” This is one message that most activists could likely agree on, regardless of either location or cause.
-- Allison Dunckle
Dr. Martin Luther King was assassinated in Memphis, Tenn. On April ,4 1968 and passed away at St. Joseph’s Hospital. Exactly 43 years later, on April 4, 2011, a rally was held outside the Judge Joseph S. Mattina Community Health Center. Unfortunately, King’s last speech addressed issues that still remain relevant today: working class rights, higher wages, and fair treatment in the workplace. Protest organizers felt the timing was appropriate; it coincided with national “We are One” rallies and observance gatherings to commemorate his life and message of peace and equality. It was a symbolic reminder to continue to fight for the same moral principles King advocated during his life. The union that played a particularly active role in the protest was CWA Local 1168, a number that also seems just as symbolic, even if was just coincidental. -- Sharvonne Williams
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