“One of the major benefits here is retiree health, and that’s the reason I’ve stayed at the hospital for 38 years,’’ said Donna Kelly-Williams, a nurse at Cambridge Hospital and president of the nurses association. “This ruling puts me at ease. I’m coming to the end of my career. If the ruling hadn’t gone in our favor, I wouldn’t be able to retire.’’
Doug Bailey, a spokesman for Cambridge Health Alliance, which also operates Somerville Hospital and Whidden Hospital in Everett, said the alliance is evaluating the “disappointing decision’’ issued July 1 by Middlesex Superior Court Justice Herman J. Smith Jr.
The hospital group, which treats a disproportionate share of low-income patients, has suffered a number of financial setbacks in recent years. It is bracing for anticipated further cuts in the state Medicaid program, which insures many of its patients.
“We are considering all our options with legal counsel,’’ Bailey said, “but we expect to appeal the ruling and be given an opportunity to submit evidence that supports our contention that we have the right to control our own finances and affairs in these precarious economic times.’’
In his decision, Smith denied a Cambridge Health Alliance motion to dismiss a nurses association suit that sought to block the hospital group from reducing retiree health benefits for Cambridge Hospital nurses by about 40 percent. The proposed cuts, consistent with those Cambridge Health Alliance negotiated with other unions, would have affected only those veteran nurses still on the city payroll of Cambridge, which partly owns the hospital.
Employees hired since 1996, when Cambridge Health Alliance took over running the hospital, do not work for the city.
Cambridge Health Alliance, which has cut more than 600 jobs over the past three years through layoffs and attrition, now has just under 3,000 employees at its three locations. It is set to disclose today that it will reduce hours for about 18 employees - a cost-cutting measure put in place before the court ruling.
