Dear Elected Officials and Members of the Public, 

On December 20th 2023, 1199SEIU Healthcare Workers East held a public “roundtable” at which we claimed there was a “healthcare crisis” at Tenet-affiliated hospitals in Palm Beach County, including Delray Medical Center, Good Samaritan Medical Center, Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center, West Boca Medical Center, and St. Mary’s Medical Center (the Hospitals). The Union conducted this “roundtable” gathering in direct contrast to its obligations to work with the Hospitals to resolve issues.   The Union’s subsequent posts from February 28 and March 1 also contradict this obligation. I am writing to acknowledge that the “roundtable” gathering and the posts from February 28 and March 1 were wholly premature and inappropriate. On behalf of 1199SEIU, I am now writing to retract those claims and to publicly apologize to Tenet and the Hospitals for ever having made them.    

I am also writing to acknowledge that the posts from February 28 and March 1 inappropriately disparaged the Hospitals.  I hereby retract the statements made during the roundtable and in the posts from February 28 and March 1. These statements were entirely inappropriate to make, and the Union should not have made the negative statements.  We hereby retract each and every one of our claims, including: 

• We stated there were around 40 “caregivers, community leaders, and public members” attended our “roundtable.”  We hereby retract that statement. 

• We stated there was a “healthcare crisis in Palm Beach County highlighted by short-staffing, high turnover at Tenet Hospitals.”  We did not at the time and do not have any basis for believing that any Tenet facility is unsafe, or is providing less than quality patient care. Similarly, we had no reason to believe the Tenet-affiliated Hospitals are short-staffed or that they have higher turnover rates than any other hospitals in Florida.  We hereby retract our statements to the contrary. 

• We stated that staffing and retention is a dire issue throughout the state, but especially at the Tenet-affiliated Hospitals in Palm Beach County.  In fact, we had no reason to believe that staffing and retention issues at Tenet-affiliated Hospitals are different than any other hospitals in Florida.  We hereby retract that statement. 

• We stated there is a revolving door of inexperienced workers at the Tenet-affiliated Hospitals and made very specific claims about the turnover and experience levels of the nurses at Tenet-affiliated hospitals.  We claimed the turnover rate was 62 percent and that nurses typically had only 2 years of job experience.  In fact, we had no reason to believe that the turnover rate and experience levels of the nurses at the Hospitals are different than any other hospitals in Florida.  We hereby retract those statements. 

• We stated that staffing conditions at the Tenet-affiliated hospitals correlated with higher levels of death, permanent harm or severe temporary harm and we highlighted those words on our website to emphasize them.  In fact, we had no reason to believe that Tenet Hospitals are any different than any other hospital in Florida.  We hereby retract that unfounded claim. 

• We stated that the staffing and turnover at the Tenet-affiliated Hospitals “directly impacts the patients” and “could be catastrophic.”  In fact, we had no reason to believe that Tenet-affiliated Hospitals are any different from any other hospitals in Florida. 

Please know that 1199SEIU has a positive relationship with Tenet and its affiliated Hospitals and we are wholly committed to working with them in a positive manner.  We did not at the time and do not have any basis for believing that any Tenet facility is unsafe, or is providing less than quality patient care. To specifically make the issues about Tenet was wrong, and the Union apologizes for this inappropriate communication. 

 

Sincerely, 

Jude Derisme  
Vice-President