Bill Urman

Bill Urman, a union representative for Marin General, said nurses are concerned about proposed changes in health benefits and retirement security - as well as staffing changes and service cuts at some hospitals.

"This is a major attempt on their part to really silence registered nurses," said Bill Urman, the labor representative for both Marin General and Novato Community hospitals.Urman said details of the union's allegations would be presented during a press conference at the Novato hospital Thursday.
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Urman speculated there may not have been enough replacement nurses available to follow through on the initial plan.
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Urman said the union is concerned that Sutter Health has given it no information on progress toward setting up new nurses' benefit plans as required by its court settlement with the Marin Healthcare District.The agreement calls for Sutter to return control of the hospital to the district as early as January 2009 and no later than July 2010.

He said the transfer agreement requires Sutter to set up independent programs for the nurses' vision insurance, life insurance, long-term disability and retiree medical benefits.The transfer agreement calls for these programs to be set up by Jan. 1, Urman said.

He said the union reviewed the deadline requirements with Sutter representatives during its most recent bargaining session.

"The hospital actually gave us an indication they were surprised to see that, which really alarmed us," Urman said.
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Sutter Health currently uses self-insurance to cover the nurses' medical costs, Urman said.Converting to a commercial provider will be more costly, he said.