Letter from Adrian Kuzminski

Bassett Must Reestablish Trust

The recent attempt by Bassett Healthcare Network to break long-standing contracts for healthcare coverage made to retirees (plus spouses) who put in long years of service, along with the recent firing of 101 employees, has put a hole in its once stellar reputation.

One way to reestablish local confidence might be for the hospital to announce that future cuts in salaries and benefits will somehow be shared by the entire medical and administrative staff, along with all other employees.

Corporate logic will insist that sky-high salaries in some areas are required to lure good talent, but it may be time to test that idea. Salary inequities haven’t solved the hospital’s retention problems.

An appeal for employees on the basis of integrated healthcare and rural community values, including shared sacrifice as necessary, might attract more reliable and committed people. That may be a better bet than trying at any cost to buy the loyalty of professionals who can work and live almost anywhere.

Adrian Kuzminski
Fly Creek