Michigan medicine

More than a thousand resident physicians at the University of Michigan health system say they’re frustrated and insulted by contract negotiations that have stalled in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Negotiations over the 3-year contract began in January. The current contract runs through the end of June.

Michigan Medicine, the University of Michigan's health system, will lay off and furlough about 1,400 full-time employees.

The job cuts are part of a plan, announced today by Michigan Medicine, to address a financial loss of up to $230 million projected for the fiscal year that ends on June 30, 2020. The health system expects the losses to continue into the 2021 fiscal year.

The University of Michigan health system is making plans for a field hospital for an expected overflow of COVID-19 patients.

Officials hope to transform an indoor track facility at U of M into a field hospital by April 9th or 10th. 

The University of Michigan Board of Regents has approved money for the construction a new, nearly $1 billion hospital in Ann Arbor.

The new 12-story adult hospital will serve critical-care patients with conditions affecting the brain, spine, and heart, among others.

It will include a state-of-the art neurological and neurosurgical center, and 264 private rooms. That means all Michigan Medicine patient rooms will be private single rooms.

New guidelines set by the Michigan Opioid Prescribing Engagement Network (OPEN) and implemented by hospitals around the state have allowed surgeons to reduce the amount of opioids they prescribe to patients post-surgery. Patients didn’t report increased pain; in fact, patients reported the same amount of pain as patients did with more opioids.

Nurses at the University of Michigan say they’ve reached a tentative three-year agreement with Michigan Medicine, ending their threat of a strike.

Just last week U of M nurses voted to authorize their union to call a three-day work stoppage, citing unfair labor practices. Ninety-four percent of the votes were in favor of the authorization.

Nearly six thousand nurses at the University of Michigan are voting on a possible work stoppage.

The nurses’ union contract with the university health system expired over the summer.

The University of Michigan Professional Nurse Council, currently engaged in contract negotiation with Michigan Medicine, announced Monday morning that it will hold an informational picket on July 14 if they haven't yet reached an agreement at that point.

The announcement of the picket comes less than a week after the union filed an unfair labor practice charge against the health system for prohibiting the nurses from wearing certain shirts advocacting for the union while on their shift.