Original Petition:

To UIHC Leadership:

It has been just a few months since the transition from Mercy Hospital to UIHC Medical Center Downtown and unfortunately, the employees of MCD have suffered unfair treatment during this change. One of the most concerning issues that has arisen is the blatant disregard for the years of experience MCD employees served under Mercy that has not been appropriately recognized under UIHC ownership.

This affects the staff at MCD in multiple ways:

• That staff who have, through no action of their own other than choosing to stay in their job, essentially have become employees with a probationary period and thus have no real job security. The University has failed to provide adequate training and onboarding of MCD employees (and at the time of writing this petition, have no plans in place to do so MCD employees could consequently lose their job if they unknowingly breach University policy.
• That staff who have demonstrated commitment to working at this facility, even through the transition, have no seniority and are considered new employees, affecting vacation time approval and consideration when applying for new jobs within the health system. For example, someone who has worked at Mercy IC for 30 years now has the same level of priority for time off as someone who only started in December or January.
• That staff accrue vacation time in an unfair manner, with employees who have over 6 years of seniority earning 72 hours more than new employees per year.

As a member of the community served by UIHC, I am joining your staff in demanding that you show respect for these merged employees and consideration of their years of valuable experience and loyalty to continuing to provide excellent care to patients in the community. We request:

• Respect and credit for the time served under Mercy ownership by using Mercy seniority dates to calculate vacation time accrual rates, determine vacation request approvals by seniority, and to no longer be treated as probationary employees.
• Full training on UIHC policies, standards of practice, and expectations.
• In addition to former Mercy staff, we would like to see these same considerations for experience and continued loyalty extended to all staff units which have been merged in or otherwise taken over by UIHC in the last 5 years. The service and experience of the staff at MCD should not be discounted and the loyalty of all staff who transitioned to UIHC should be fairly recognized.

Example Letter:

Dear UIHC Leadership,

I am an lowa City resident and longtime patient at the University, as are many of my friends and family members. I read that staff who transitioned to UIHC through the merger with Mercy lowa City have lost their seniority and their sick leave by simply choosing to stay in their jobs and are now on probation, as if they were new employees. I also heard that they are not receiving a new hire bonus, a perk meant to incentivize new staff to stay. If they are only being punished through losing job security and earned benefits and not incentivized, why would anyone stay?

As a member of this community and one of your patients, I value having quality, well-trained healthcare providers. That is what UIHC stands for, isn't it? Show your staff that you value them the way you tell us you value them and act accordingly. Restore seniority to all staff obtained through mergers in the last five years, and take them off of probation if applicable. I expect better from UIHC. Don't prove your patients wrong. Do the right thing.

Signed with conviction,

Jane Smith

Tips for letter writers:

- Speak from your own experience.

- Were you a former Mercy IC patient who now has to choose to stay with UIHC or transfer care to a different health system? Has the merger impacted you? How? Why do UIHC employment practices matter to you?

- Keep it simple - unless you feel compelled, the letter doesn't need to be more than 2-3 paragraphs

- Make a clear demand at the end:

-Restore seniority

-Revoke probation

-Restore sick time lost in merger

-Speak from the heart!

Your words are most impactful when you use your own words and display what is important to you

Address to send letter to:

Bradley Haws

200 Hawkins Drive

Iowa City, IA 52242

United States

Have questions? Reach us here:

Chris Russell - christopher.russell@seiuhcmnia.org