We want to share some information regarding recent conversations with union representation designed to help us to continue to meet the unpredictable demands of COVID-19.
While these conversations have centered around the required notice period for furloughs, it is important to know that there are no furloughs planned at this time. Our goal is to stay busy and keep everyone working!
That said, we have been working with our union partners on an extension to the existing memorandum of understanding (MOU) to allow furloughs requiring a seven-day notice period to continue (something agreed to last spring); the latitude to pull back employees from furloughs with 48-hours’ notice; and a shorter notification period.
Even though we don’t intend to take these actions, it’s important that we learn from the past six-months and maintain this flexibility. We believe these measures will help in the event another surge occurs and our census significantly decreases, as we saw in the spring.
Continued masking and social distancing appear to be working. We’ve seen the number of COVID-19 patients decrease and we’ve been able to resume much of our regular work. Our hope is that we will never need to use the furlough process again and that we will continue to serve our patients and the community.
We want to again thank our staff and providers for their incredible dedication and flexibility. Because of your resilience, we’ve been able to successfully navigate the unprecedented nature of this global pandemic.
Sincerely,
Lisa Brandenburg
President, UW Medicine Hospitals & Clinics
Cynthia Hecker
CEO, UW Medical Center
UW Medicine
Paul Hayes
CEO, Harborview Medical Center
UW Medicine
Jeff Richey
Interim Executive Director
Airlift Northwest
UW Medicine
