Posted: 8/3/06
Health care workers union files suit to halt construction of new Maple Grove hospital
by T.W. Budig
ECM capitol reporter
A health care workers union has filed a suit in Ramsey County District Court Wednesday (Aug. 2) to halt construction of a new hospital in Maple Grove.
The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 113 and Cathy Sackett, a union member and resident of Maple Grove, allege in their suit that action by the Minnesota Legislature last session resulting in North Memorial and Fairview hospitals gaining approval to build a hospital in Maple Grove was unconstitutional.
Brendan Cummins, an attorney for the union and Sackett, called the action "entirely arbitrary," arguing it violates the state constitution because it gave exclusive rights to a private business concern.
Union member Cathy Sackett wants hospital built in Maple Grove.
At a Capitol press conference, Sackett said she wants to see a hospital built in Maple Grove -- she and her husband were forced to run red lights and drive on the shoulder of the highway to get their sick child to a distant hospital, she recounted.
The City of Maple Grove currently has no hospital.
But the process did not unfold the right way, Sackett argued.
Further, the union and Sackett allege in their suit that North Memorial has set a goal of cutting 197 full-time equivalent positions at its Robbinsdale facility while at the same time investing significantly in Maple Grove.
"We cannot build one hospital at the expense of another," said Julie Schnell, President of SEIU Local 113.
"This legislation gives the green light to hospitals to cut services in lower-income communities to pay for expansion in higher-income areas," she said in a statement.
Absolutely false
Robert Prevost, North Memorial spokesman, said it's "absolutely false" that the hospital was shifting its assets to Maple Grove at the expense of Robbinsdale.
Indeed, North Memorial has invested about $75 million in various local projects, he explained.
Prevost said North Memorial -- one of five hospitals, including Fairview, that as a group are negotiating with the SEIU Local 113 -- has laid off less than 35 people in recent months and attributes the layoffs to a decrease in patient volumes.
Prevost added that the total number of positions eliminated was higher, but these were achieved through attrition -- retirements, not rehiring, other.
According to Prevost, the labor contract with SEIU Local 113 expired on Feb. 28 with the hospitals making their last offer on March 9.
The offer has never been voted on by the union, he said.
Sen. Warren Limmer, R-Maple Grove, who nursed the controversial Maple Grove hospital bill through the Senate, argued the union's lawsuit stemmed from the protracted labor dispute rather than constitutional law.
The Attorney General's Office opined there were no constitutional issues raised by the hospital legislation, said Limmer.
He charged the union's action was "despicable" and hurt their own members as well as members of other unions.
Sen. Berglin argues naming bill unconstitutional
But Sen. Linda Berglin, DFL-Minneapolis, Senate Health and Human Services Budget Committee chairwoman, said she has always argued that passing a "naming bill" would be unconstitutional.
"The only question is whether anybody would actually file a lawsuit," said Berglin. "And they did," she said.
All told, three hospital groups -- North Memorial, Fairview, and Tri-Care Partnership -- were vying for the right to build a hospital in Maple Grove.
In spring of 2005, North Memorial and Fairview developed a joint plan.
Because of a hospital construction moratorium, health care providers needed to go to the Legislature to obtain an exemption in order to build the hospital.
Ground breaking on the new Maple Grove hospital was expected next spring or summer, with completion by 2009.
But Limmer argued that it theoretically could take three to five years for the lawsuit to advance through the court system.
If the court rules against the state on the Maple Grove hospital, that means all of the 19 exemptions to the moratorium lawmakers granted over the years are unconstitutional, Limmer opined.
(Photo by T.W. Budig, ECM Capitol Reporter)
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