CBS4 I-Team: Jackson May Ask For Loan To Stay Afloat

Miami (CBS4) - Facing a $230 million budget shortfall and the prospect of thousands in layoffs, a marathon meeting involving Jackson Memorial Hospital administrators and the Miami-Dade Public Trust was held Tuesday to get the hospital out of the red.

In addition to program cuts and laying off nearly 45 hundred employees, Hospital CEO Eneida Roldan has also proposed closing two facilities; Jackson South and Jackson North. The Board of Governors grilled Dr. Roldan on her plan to salvage Jackson's finances. They also plan on asking the county commission for a loan. The unions also got a chance to make a presentation and ask questions.

"We need to know before we vote, specifically, what you are willing to do when it comes to concession, to either pay benefits, because – let me make it a fact -- there are going to be layoffs," said board member Martin Zilber.

The attorney representing the hospital's unionized employees said they were willing to come to the table, but "I want concessions on both sides."

But when Martha Baker -- the president of the union representing nurses and doctors -- stepped in, she struck a more defiant tone.

"Shame on you for wanting to, you know, take from the employees' pockets to fund a broken system that probably, as I look across this board room, those of you sitting at the table could take some responsibility for that."

She continued, "We want this hospital to succeed. We are not overpaid. The system is broken. We must fix the system; we are not going to put money into a sieve."

At the end of the day, Baker said she is willing to work with hospital officials to try to come up with some solutions. But she pointed out that even if the nurses at Jackson were to agree to take a five percent pay cut across the board, it would only save the hospital about $10 million this year.

Later in the day, former county manager Merrett Stierheim took the podium: "I will tell you that I have never seen a more complex crisis that faces this community."

He says that he has been advising President Roldan, and that he believes the hospital needs to do a better job at letting the community know what's at stake.

"What about the human equation? How many people are not going to be served?" said Stierheim. "I'm talking about hundreds of thousands of people that are gonna be denied the quality of medical care that this remarkable institution has provided."

Regardless, Stierheim expressed support for Roldan, saying she's doing a good job. It's likely Stierheim will continue assuming a role as a community leader throughout this crisis.

Meanwhile, the CBS4 I-Team found that the hospital paid an outside public relations firm $99,500 to help them put the right 'spin' on the proposed cutbacks.

"It doesn't seem like it's the time to hire outside experts to communicate why you're cutting patient care," said Baker. "I'd rather focus on fixing the problems at Jackson." 

Ultimately, everybody is working toward March 22, when Roldan has asked the Public Health Trust to vote on her proposal to close hospitals.

The Public Health trust also voted to ask the Miami-Dade County Commission for an $80 million loan for 25 days to help get them through their payroll crisis. CBS4 News is working on getting the county's reaction to this.