January 29, 2015
Thursday AM

Nurse’s, Nurse Practitioners; family, friends, women and men that are Living and working in our community; these highly Educated, Dedicated Professionals work towards the well being of all of us that live here in Ketchikan.

Whether working for the hospital, the clinic/s or a private practice these dedicated professionals don’t just hang up their scrubs at the end of the day and go home to tend their families. They take calls at all hours of the day and night, on weekends, on holidays, from friends, neighbors and family members seeking medical advice and assistance. These dedicated professionals are not just an asset to their employers they are more importantly a golden asset to our community that deserve to be paid a salary that is not just equal to what dedicated nurses are paid in the lower 48 they need to be paid more.

Peace Health; supposedly a nonprofit organization; as they continue to throw our Nurses under the bus for profit gain, needs to be honest to the community of Ketchikan to which they supposedly benefit and answer the following questions.

1. Why is Peace Health under valuating the Nurses of our great community?
2. The price of treatment at our Peace Health Hospital even for those with medical insurance is considerably higher than what facilities, including their sister hospitals in the lower 48 charge; yet they undervalue the Nurse’s; why?
3. What do they pay the City of Ketchikan for the privilege of operating the hospital and clinic on City property? (Property that the Citizens of Ketchikan own.)
4. Who’s paying for the construction of the new hospital wing and remodel work? (We are, not Peace Health.)
5. What do they pay the hospital CEO to oversee this so called nonprofit facility?
6. What was the Ketchikan Peace Health supposed nonprofit facilities profit for the past five years?

These are valid questions that need to be made public when considering the denial by Peace Health to pay the Nurses a fair wage. Compelling the Nurses to join the National Nurses Union to fight for the wages they deserve and should have been being paid all along.

As for the question regarding what value does Peace Health truly put on the dedicated Nurses here in Ketchikan? In my humble opinion, this whole scenario on the part of Peace Health, is scandalous and needs to be corrected now.

Because of our higher cost of living and the isolation challenges here in Ketchikan, our dedicated Nurses deserve to be paid at least 15% more than their peers that live and work in the lower 48 are paid.

To the entire dedicated Nurse professional’s here in Ketchikan, Thank You for what you do.

Ralph and Lauren Mirsky,
Residents of Ketchikan for the past 17.5 years.
Ketchikan, Alaska

Received January 27, 2015 - Published January 29, 2015

Related News:

AaNA nurses and PeaceHealth Ketchikan reach tentative agreement - PeaceHealth Ketchikan Medical Center and local nurses of the Alaska Nurses Association (AsNA) announced Tuesday that they have wrapped up their fifth round of nurse negotiations with a tentative agreement in place. - More...
Wednesday PM - January 28, 2015

 

Viewpoints - Opinion Letters:

Webmail Your Opinion Letter to the Editor

 

SitNews ©2014
Stories In The News
Ketchikan, Alaska

Articles & photographs that appear in SitNews may be protected by copyright and may not be reprinted without written permission from and payment of any required fees to the proper sources. E-mail your news & photos to editor@sitnews.us Photographers choosing to submit photographs for publication to SitNews are in doing so granting their permission for publication and for archiving. SitNews does not sell photographs. All requests for purchasing a photograph will be emailed to the photographer.