Fear at OSF–2001--December 2019

 

OSF-Children’s Hospital of Illinois (Photo by John Carroll)

OSF’s mission statement regarding the importance of open and honest communication did not seem to be taken seriously by some at Saint Francis Medical Center during the months before and after I was fired in December 2001.

The Emergency Department at OSF had 24 resident physicians who complete three-year residencies in Peoria to become Emergency Medicine physicians. These young physicians are evaluated every month for 36 months regarding their performance. I enjoyed working with the resident physicians for the 12 years I was employed in the ER at OSF. The residents are young, aggressive, and want to learn.

A resident physician told me in detail about a meeting of all ED resident physicians during the time I was suspended from working in the main emergency room during the fall of 2001. The resident physicians were told by a senior member of the ER staff that if any of them “spoke negatively” regarding the fact that I had been banned from the emergency room, they would “suffer harsh consequences”. I asked this physician if Hevesy had made this announcement. The answer was no but that Hevesy stood next to the speaker nodding his head and affirming the threats. (OSF functions this way to protect certain individuals. Subordinates are picked out to give bad news.) The residents wanted good evaluations during their 3 years in Peoria so they could get good jobs when they finished their residencies. It was very clear to these resident physicians that they should say nothing in support of me. 

During the fall of ’01, an attending physician in the ER was vocal in his support for me in the ER. One day while in the bathroom, he was followed in by the same physician who was threatening the residents with “harsh consequences” as noted above. This supportive colleague of mine in the bathroom was told to mute his comments in support of me.  

Another resident told me that when he went in to talk to the Program Director in the ER for his evaluation after I was fired, he was asked questions about his friendship with me and what he thought about my departure. The resident did not know how to answer these questions because of the obvious implications regarding why he was asked these questions in the first place. The young resident was afraid. 

Several days after I was fired, an ER staff meeting occurred and Keith Steffen and OSF attorney Doug Marshall showed up. Someone attending the meeting filled me in on the details. Keith wore glasses and stared at the floor a lot and appeared quite sad. He said to the doctors that “he had not been sleeping well” (concerning my firing) even though he had smiled and told me during those months in his office how at peace he was and how well he was sleeping. ( I know this seems unbelievable and I would have a hard time if I were you reading this blog.) Doug Marshall spoke a lot because Keith was so “sad”. Most of the physicians had never even seen Marshall before and wouldn’t have known who he was.

I asked the person present at the meeting if anyone believed what Keith was telling them and the answer was “no”. It was stated that my firing was the toughest they encountered at OSF citing an example of a janitor who jumped up in Keith’s office at his termination and was extremely angry. This left the impression with my colleagues that the same may have occurred with me. It did not, of course, but that was the impression created. What Steffen and Marshall left out were the seeds of doubt that Steffen was creating all over the community about me. This wasn’t mentioned to my colleagues.

Oh, I almost forgot. The attending ED physicians were told not to comment on the Journal Star article after I was fired on December 18.

All of the nurses in the ED were talked to in three separate meetings by Hevesy and the director of the ER nurses. My termination was discussed. A nurse who started a petition supporting me told me how Rick Miller would pick up her charts out of the patient box and scan them. In her opinion, he was looking for any mistakes or oversights she may have made with her documentation in order to use it against her. (She no longer works in the ER at OSF having left voluntarily.)

The religious were afraid at OSF also. After I was fired, a Haitian Hearts supporter and OSF employee and I had a meeting with OSF’s chaplain, Fr. Mike Bliss. We pleaded with him to talk with Keith Steffen about the plight of the Haitian children who needed surgery. Father stated that he would talk with “Sister” but he would not talk with Steffen about this. He was very definite about not approaching Steffen.  Father stated this would be “waving red flags as to whose side he was on”. I assumed he was on the Haitian kids side. He had traveled to Haiti with us in the past and saw the inhuman conditions on the island where these kids lived.

I said to Father, “You won’t be fired if you speak with Keith”. He just laughed and raised his eyebrows. I interpreted his facial expression to mean that getting fired was a distinct possibility if he pursued this with Keith. I couldn’t believe that the Catholic chaplain who said Mass every day in the chapel at OSF, visited the sick every day and night, and came to the ER for pastoral care issues every time I called him, would be so intimidated by Steffen. He knew the consequences that could follow and that the Sisters probably would do nothing to stop Father’s departure from OSF. The bottom line was that Father Bliss knew who really controlled OSF. And they didn’t wear habits.

As the months went by in 2002, and I began to understand more of how things worked in Peoria, I wondered what the repercussions from the Catholic Diocese of Peoria would be against Father Bliss if he took a proactive stance in support of the Haitian Hearts children.

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Denouement and Learning Points–2019

The physician above who was threatening the young residents and going in the bathroom to silence another physician is now OSF-SFMC Administrator. I guess he was groomed for years to be ready for this important position. This really saddens me.

The resident physicians, attending physicians, and nursing staff at OSF were all individually advised not to speak about my situation. And Father Bliss, the OSF Chaplain, was afraid to approach Mr. Steffen on behalf of Haitian kids needing heart surgery. And several years later when I was picketing OSF with Haitian Hearts patient Willie Fortune, Keith sent an afraid Fr. Bliss out to talk to me on the sidewalk.

(And not mentioned above, in 2001 I talked to Sister Judith Ann, who is OSF HealthCare Chairman, about Keith Steffen’s statements to me in 2001. Sister was incredibly afraid of the situation created by Keith and had no idea what to do. More later.)

Open and honest communication, a Mission Statement at OSF-SFMC, was put on hold in 2001.

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Journal Star

Elaine Hopkins

February 22, 2003

Nurses urged to reject union

Peoria--An attempt to unionize nurses at OSF SFMC has prompted a response from hospital officials urging nurses to reject a union.

John Williams, a national organizer for AFT Healthcare, a division of the American Federation of Teachers, said Friday he has met with registered nurses at St. Francis to determine whether they wish to organize a union.

However, "There's no official campaign," he said. "We're in the very early stages."

But in a letter sent to all nurses, the hospital states: "We do not believe that a union is necessary, and we do not want a union here." The letter, dated Feb. 14, was signed by St. Francis administrator Keith Steffen and former administrator Sister M. Canisia Gerlach.

The letter surges nurses "not to sign a union authorization card," stating a union would interfere in employer-employee relationships.

The letter also tells anyone feeling harassed to contact a hospital manager or the National labor Relations Board.

Williams said he was surprised at the hospital's response. 

"Being a Catholic and in labor, I's aware of the pope's teaching on labor unions, and the American Catholic Bishops also recommend all workers to be in unions," he said. 

It's kind of disturbing that the hospital would put out a letter saying, "Vote no," he said.

St. Francis employs more than 1,000 registered nurses. AT least initially, only the RNs, not licensed practical nurses, would be involved in unionization efforts. 

The US Conference of Catholic Bishops' publication, "Ethical and Religious Directives, for Catholic Health Care Services" states, "A Catholic health-care institution must treat its employees respectfully and justly, This responsibility include equal employment opportunities...and recognition of the rights of employees to organize and bargain collectively without prejudice to the common good."

But St. Francis spokesman Chris Lofgren said the Catholic directive on unions may no apply to all situations. 

"It is not a blanket endorsement of unions," Lofgren said. "It may not be appropriate in certain circumstances, "such as health care. "A union could come between providing care to a patient."

Joseph Piccione, OSF Healthcare corporate ethicist, said Catholic theologians and thinkers have written that a health care organization can "build community and internal collaborative relationships without using the union as a means to achieve that."

A union may be necessary in an industrial setting but not necessary in a service or healthcare setting, he said. 

"A strike can harm patients. Would (a union) be willing to take a strike off the table so the common good is not harmed? Piccione asked. 

Williams said, "Some Catholics are very conservative and think (unionization) bodes against their mission when their mission should allow nurses a voice because they supervise patient care."

The health-care system is under stress to make money, he said. "It seems like the nurses are the last thing they listen to."

AFT Healthcare represents more than 63,000 nurses and other health professionals in the U. S. There are several units in the Midwest, but a union at St. Francis would be the first for the organization in Illinois. 

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My Comments in 2021

1. The article above was written in 2003. I had been picketing OSF the month earlier for OSF's actions regarding Haitian children needing heart surgery. 

2. In December 2001, as Keith Steffen was getting ready to fire me from OSF-SFMC, he told me in his office that fear is a good thing at OSF. He wanted his employees to be afraid. And he referred to the nurses at OSF as "widgets". He told me that if any of his nurses wanted to leave for Methodist, that was fine with him. 

3. The article above sites Steffen's comments about no union at OSF. A rule of thumb would be that any hospital administrator who states, "Haitian kids make me want to puke..." would be "no union" for sure.

4. Piccione's comments were so "perfect" for the above article. Piccione, as OSF Corporate Ethicist, played down the importance of a nurses union at OSF. And he was also instrumental in stopping my Haitian kids from returning to OSF. OSF was using Piccione to support them as they modified Catholic social justice teaching as well as the Ethical Directives of the Catholic Bishops of the United States and Health Care. 

5. The responses by Steffen and Piccione to a nurse's union at OSF were so predictable based on how they treated Haitian Hearts. 

6. OSF nurses never formed a union.  

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