Wow, stop the presses. The governor gave up a day’s pay on Tuesday.
How many hundreds of Bridgeport city employees are collecting unemployment, gave up a week’s pay or have agreed to zero salary increases for a couple of years at the urging of Mayor Bill Finch?
Jodi’s symbolic gesture to state employees in her frugality plan is one stinking day. A little more than $500 out of a $150K salary. Based on the guv’s self-imposed sacrifice, I can see all state union leaders doing backflips to sway membership to agree to gigantic wage and benefit concessions.
“Oh my god did you see the governor gave up a day’s pay?” Yes, let’s all stick fingers down our throats over that and puke up the billion or two or three needed to close the budget gap this year and next.
That’s right; Jodi says, I’ll give up a day if you give up a week, or a month or a this or a that. Such sacrifice.
You’ll have to excuse me now because I must ready my funny nose and glasses in my blending strategy to load up on the buffet line at Democratic Town Chair Mario Testa’s exclusive bash for town committee members. I’m looking forward to live reports from my DTC buffet-line spies.
RedWhiteandBlue had a spot-on observation in my prior commentary regarding the state of the DTC. Party harmony generally runs along the public popularity of the mayor. It’s much easier to govern and keep pols in line when in good standing with the electorate.
One year ago, Finch was maneuvering to keep John Stafstrom, his chief fundraiser, head of the DTC. Party regulars, however, wanted to make a change and gravitated to Mario who had success keeping the party together during the days of Joe Ganim’s popularity.
Now Mario’s in a different position trying to hold on to his base support without a strong working relationship with Finch. Mario says he reaches out to Finch while the mayor tries to juggle his smaller base party support opposed to Mario. Mario can claim that he was the party chief that helped deliver Jim Himes’ victory for Congress over Chris Shays and Anthony Musto’s State Senate victory over Rob Russo. Whether Mario had anything to do with with those wins or not, they happened on his watch.
Finch can claim that he and his wing of the party including Stafstrom supported and helped deliver Auden Grogins’ State House primary win over Bob Keeley.
Finch is of the mind that he can always reach out to Vice Chair Dottie Guman, his political godmother, to address party issues, but his relationship with Guman isn’t what it used to be.
In March of 2010 another vote for party leadership will take place, but before that time an election for City Council seats this year and DTC seats late next winter.
Meanwhile let me know about any food fights tonight.
News release from Mayor Finch
Optimus Health Care & Southwest Community Health Center Chosen to Run Bridgeport School Based Health Centers
BRIDGEPORT, CT (Jan. 14, 2009) – The City of Bridgeport and the Connecticut Department of Public Health (DPH) today announced that Optimus Health Care and Southwest Community Health Center will operate the City of Bridgeport School Based Health Center (SBHC) program beginning March 1, 2009.
Optimus Health Care was awarded a contract in December by DPH through a competitive bid process to run the 10 Bridgeport SBHCs, and will subcontract to Southwest Community Health Center to run five of the 10 centers. The City of Bridgeport previously ran the SBHC program and will do so through the end of February.
“We are extremely pleased to have worked with the Department of Public Health to make this new provider structure a reality. Optimus and Southwest are two well-respected health care providers, and we are confident that they will provide the level of care that our schoolchildren and their families have come to expect,” said Mayor Bill Finch. “We’ll be meeting with the new providers in the coming days and I will urge them to consider hiring the existing staff that has been providing excellent care to our students.”
The move to a private provider will save the city $1.5 million yearly.
Mayor Finch also applauded the DPH’s decision to include Luis Munoz Marin School, an existing clinic that was funded solely by the city, in the 10 sites where Optimus and Southwest will be providing services.
“We are looking forward to working with the city and the DPH to provide a seamless transition for all students and their families,” said Ludwig Spinelli, CEO of Optimus Health Care, and the lead provider in conjunction with Southwest Community Health Center. “We have a long track record of service in the city having been the provider at Dunbar School for the past 15 years. We see this as a win-win for all in the health care community, especially since our community health centers will be open, and providing services to children and their families, at times when the school is not,” he added.
“Southwest is very excited to be able to partner with Optimus to provide quality health care in Bridgeport schools,” said Kathy Yacavone, President/CEO of Southwest Community Health Center. “Our aim is to give the children, and their families, a seamless transition with continuity of care that will extend into evening and weekend hours. Southwest has been a provider of health care services in the city for 33 years, and we look forward to working with the city and DPH to provide medical, dental and mental health services to Bridgeport’s children.”
The main Southwest Community Health Center site at 968 Fairfield Avenue will soon be open two evenings a week and on Saturdays. In March, service will expand to three evenings a week.
“Parents and guardians need to know that if their child is currently enrolled with a Bridgeport SBHC and they wish to have him or her continue to receive services, no action is required,” commented DPH Commissioner J. Robert Galvin, MD, MPH, MBA. “The release form signed by you for the 2008/2009 school year remains active and valid.”
However, if a child is currently enrolled in a Bridgeport SBHC and a parent/guardian chooses for him or her to no longer receive services with the new vendor, they must notify the school in writing. This form will be sent home to children and their parents on Thursday, and is available at SBHC, school offices and on-line at www.ct.gov/dph.
Medical and mental health services will continue to be offered at each of the city’s SBHC sites. In addition, each SBHC is now partnered with a local Community Health Center (CHC), enabling students to access the full range of comprehensive primary care year-round. Basic oral health services, primarily screenings and some cleanings will be available at those SBHC sites with dental suites, while other dental work will be provided at partner CHC sites (please see attached list). Physicians with admitting privileges at Bridgeport Hospital staff both CHCs.
The SBHC sites will be open every day the school is open and will remain open two weeks after school closes in June and re-open two weeks before the beginning of school in August. The partner CHCs will provide primary care at their various clinical sites during the summer months as well as some holidays, Saturdays, and after school hours.
All Bridgeport SBHCs will remain open during the transition period, and every effort is being made to provide continuity of service as this transition progresses.
School Based Health Centers (SBHCs) are comprehensive primary health care facilities located within or on the grounds of schools. SBHCs are licensed as outpatient facilities or hospital satellite clinics and offer services that address the medical, mental and oral health needs of students in grades pre-K through 12.
She is a disgrace. I would be ashamed of that story. She ought to visit the municipal employees of the City of Bridgeport if she wants to discuss sacrifice and concessions.
Here we go again; now it’s the state’s rank and file that are going to take it in the neck. The elected officials in Hartford are who got the state where it is now. They spend money like drunken sailors every time there is a surplus. Maybe it’s time for all the spendthrifts to work this session for free and donate the salaries towards the deficit; after all they created this deficit.
Seems like here is just like everywhere else …
“Work in this numbing place, day after day, month after month, year after year and it eventually ceases to yield perspective. By virtue of the job, they are the people who are uniquely situated to witness the backward march of a great city, the fight to keep its living people from the ashbin of history as the world economic structure remakes itself. After enough hours of staring into it, these men will tell you it starts to appear normal. Average. Everyday.”
From a newspaper article about Detroit, Michigan.
Everyone must be at Mario’s party …
I’m here Lennie. When are the Republicans having a party?
On Optimus Health Care & Southwest Community Health Center contract.
“The SBHC sites will be open every day the school is open and will remain open two weeks after school closes in June and re-open two weeks before the beginning of school in August. The partner CHCs will provide primary care at their various clinical sites during the summer months as well as some holidays, Saturdays, and after school hours.”
This sounds like a win-win situation for the Clinics. This contract will allow the Clinics to operate and provide service to people not enrolled in the Bridgeport SBHC during the hours that SBHC participants would have been served by SBHC under the City.
I’m sure that these Clinics will not turn away patients who are not enrolled with the SBHC during the hours that are intended to serve the participants of the SBHC.
“We see this as a win-win for all in the health care community, especially since our community health centers will be open, and providing services to children and their families, at times when the school is not,” he added.”
Will there be a staff to strictly serve SBHC participants only? Obviously there is no plan or intent to have separate personnel to strictly serve the SBHC participants. Had there been a plan or intent to do this, the mayor would have not said, “I will urge them to consider hiring the existing staff that has been providing excellent care to our students.”
“The main Southwest Community Health Center site at 968 Fairfield Avenue will soon be open two evenings a week and on Saturdays. In March, service will expand to three evenings a week.”
Let’s say that during the expanded hours mentioned above, Five participants of the SBHC visit this Clinic and 50 non-SBHC participants visit the Clinic during the same scheduled hours; who is the winner? Surely the SBHC participants are getting services on hours and days that would have not been available had the City been running the SBHC. However had the City still been running the SBHC, the SBHC would have not been open to serve the 50 non-SBHC participants.
The City is saving $1.5 million–we are told. What is the amount of the contract with the Clinics? Lennie, it’s nice that you put up these press releases. However you should do some research of facts and information that is often left out of these press releases.
“Yes, let’s all stick fingers down our throats over that and puke up the billion or two or three needed to close the budget gap this year and next.”
Why fingers Lennie? You couldn’t think of other things to stick down your throat?
(please see attached list).
Where’s the list Lennie? You’re holding out on us.
The real question is–how much in grant funding did the City have to return to the state in return for this $1.5 million in “savings”?