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PEP June 2014
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Public Employee Press

City and state stall dialysis privatization

With support from the de Blasio administration and political allies, DC 37 and a coalition of labor unions have halted the takeover and privatization of dialysis clinics at four more public hospitals by Big Apple Dialysis Management, a for-profit company with a higher mortality rate than HHC.

In a victory for dialysis patients and workers at the Health and Hospitals Corp., after the unions' long campaign of rallies, petitions, political action and labor-management meetings, the city and state took action to stall the contracting-out plan.

"This move by Mayor Bill de Blasio's administration pushes the reset button on former Mayor Bloomberg's plan to aggressively sell off HHC's dialysis services," said District Council 37 Executive Director Lillian Roberts. "We applaud Deputy Mayor Lilliam Barrios-Paoli for officially pulling the application for more outsourcing."

The Public Health and Health Planning Council of the state Dept. of Health decided in March to table Big Apple's application to take over HHC's chronic dialysis facilities at Harlem, Lincoln, Metropolitan and Kings County hospitals and moved a hearing on the issue set for May 22 from Albany to New York City.

The unions worked with a coalition of patients, caregivers, nurses and doctors, as well as Public Advocate Letitia James, City Health Committee Chair Corey Johnson, former Chair Carmen Arroyo, City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, and more than a dozen local and state lawmakers to protect HHC's dialysis patients and thwart further privatization of the clinics.

"For-profit dialysis companies cherry-pick patients with good health insurance and routinely reject the uninsured," said DC 37 Director of Field Services Barbara Edmonds. River Renal Services, which runs Bellevue's clinic, limits homeless and uninsured patients treatment to twice weekly; HHC's unionized staff provided three treatments per week regardless of patients' ability to pay.

"Big Apple and other privateers are out to make money off sick people, which conflicts with HHC's mission," said Roberts.

 

 
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