Dec. 17, 2003 -Tenet Healthcare Corporation (NYSE: THC) announced today that it has entered into a wide-reaching labor accord with the California Nurses Association.
The agreement is similar to Tenet's strategic alliance with the Service Employees International Union and the American Federation of Federal, State, County and Municipal Employees that Tenet announced in May. The accord with the CNA is designed to give Tenet's hospital subsidiaries in California a long period of predictability in wage costs without labor disruptions.
The agreement's provisions will:
· Provide the hospitals with a lengthy period of labor peace - until Jan. 1, 2010 - with a no-strike provision and mandatory neutral arbitration for any disputes;
· Give the company multi-year, predictable wage and benefit cost stability; and
· Foster a spirit of collaboration and cooperation between Tenet hospitals and their unionized employees.
"Tenet's new management recognizes that this agreement with the CNA is an important step in our continuing efforts to put the company on a solid footing for future growth," said Trevor Fetter, Tenet's president and chief executive officer. "We believe in this agreement because it permits our nurses to decide if they want union representation, with minimum disruption and without costly, unpredictable and debilitating strikes if they do choose to be represented by a union."
Key elements of the accord include:
· Competitive wage and benefit provisions, including annual wage increases for registered nurses of 8 percent in the first year and 7 percent in each of the next two years;
· Continuation of Tenet's benefit package including the company's standard health and existing 401(k) retirement plan with the current employer match of 5 percent; in addition, the company will contribute 1 percent of wages to a new retirement medical savings account for RNs who satisfy certain eligibility requirements;
· Use of neutral arbitrators to resolve any bargaining disputes;
· A no-strike provision, which lasts until Jan. 1, 2010, to ensure uninterrupted patient care;
· The framework for collaborative problem-solving on local and national levels;
· An expedited CNA election process during the first half of 2004;
· The settlement of almost all existing grievances, unfair labor practice charges and complaints, and other disputes between the union and Tenet hospitals;
· CNA is limited to organizing RNs at Tenet hospitals inside California; and
· The creation of patient care committees at the hospitals organized under the agreement, where management and employees will work together to design potential improvements in the quality of patient care at individual facilities.
"This historic agreement reaffirms Tenet's commitment to providing continuous improvements in quality of care and service for patients while enhancing the efficiency of our care delivery system," said Stephen L. Newman, M.D., chief executive officer of Tenet California. "Our nurses have always played a critical role in designing and delivering quality, compassionate care at the bedside for thousands of Californians each day. If they elect to join a union, this agreement ensures that our vision of collaborative care will not be subject to work stoppages. Faced with serious nursing shortages and newly mandated staffing ratios, this is one of many important steps our hospitals are taking to become the employer of choice for professional nurses."
"We were pleased to work with the company's new management to forge this unique and new agreement," said Rose Ann DeMoro, the CNA's executive director. "We look forward to working with Tenet as this unique and very positive new agreement is implemented. This will ensure a significantly improved relationship between the CNA RNs and Tenet that ultimately will result in enhanced quality care for patients at Tenet hospitals."
Tenet Healthcare Corporation, through its subsidiaries, owns and operates 102 acute care hospitals with 25,643 beds and numerous related health care services. Tenet and its subsidiaries employ approximately 107,500 people serving communities in 15 states. Tenet's name reflects its core business philosophy: the importance of shared values among partners - including employees, physicians, insurers and communities - in providing a full spectrum of health care. Tenet can be found on the World Wide Web at www.tenethealth.com.
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Certain statements in this release may constitute forward-looking statements. They are based on management's current expectations and could be affected by numerous factors and are subject to various risks and uncertainties. Certain of those risks and uncertainties are discussed in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Company's transition report on Form 10-K for the 7-month period ended Dec. 31, 2002 and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. Do not rely on any forward-looking statement, as we cannot predict or control many of the factors that ultimately may affect our ability to achieve the results estimated. We make no promise to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of changes in underlying factors, new information, future events or otherwise.