Laid-off Community Healthlink workers rebuffed in attempt to detail program issues with UMass Memorial administration

PHOTO | Isabel Tehan Community Healthlink SEIU Local 509 members at the UMass Memorial Health administrative offices

Write a Comment

By Isabel Tehan

A delegation of Community Healthlink workers who were affected by the closures of three substance abuse programs gathered at the UMass Memorial Health administrative offices Tuesday morning in a rebuked attempt to deliver a letter to President & CEO Dr. Eric Dickson with their demands in the wake of the associated layoffs.

“Over the last two years, CHL management has neglected to address the conditions of the program, leading to a complete deterioration of working conditions and services provided,” said the letter addressed to Dickson, signed by David Foley, president of the SEIU Local 509 union, which represents the impacted CHL workers.

In addition to the demand for a meeting with Dickson, which was not met on Tuesday morning, the demands from the union are that UMass Memorial open an investigation into what led to the suspension of the programs and make the findings public, as well as work with staff to determine the solutions to allow for the safe reopening as soon as possible.

CHL workers said they have made their concerns about the deteriorating quality of care known to management repeatedly via email, before a surprise regulatory inspection by the Massachusetts Bureau of Substance Addiction Services led the programs to be shut down.

The goal of the in-person letter delivery was to get an audience with UMass Memorial administration, which oversees CHL. That audience with UMass administration was never granted, although an employee from CHL did eventually accept the letter.

UMass Memorial provided an updated statement about the closure of the programs on Tuesday.

“We are committed to working with public officials at BSAS along with our staff, management teams, and SEIU representatives at Community Healthlink to keep the lines of communication open and ensure that our caregivers and clients have the resources they need in alignment with our high standards of care,” the UMass statement said.

“I hope they see we are people who are really invested here and that this is important not just to us but to the community we serve,” said Robin Morris, an acute care nurse for the detox program, who has worked with CHL for 15 years. Morris, like the other workers interviewed for this story, was impacted by the layoffs, will be paid through Friday, and be given an opportunity to apply for reassignment to another position within the UMass Memorial Health system.

PHOTO | Isabel Tehan

SEIU Local 509 members at the UMass Memorial Health administrative offices, in protest of the closure of Community Healthlink programs

Morris said she has seen the deterioration of services happen over the last five years.

“We’ve spoken with our initial middle management team and emails have been sent continuously, and it fell on deaf ears,” said Morris.

Mercedes Devito, a clinician with the Passages program, had been working at CHL for seven months when the program was shut down, said the issues largely stemmed from lack of staffing.

“It has made it almost impossible to complete our duties and be able to provide clients with the treatment they need due to the fact that we don’t have staff, so we’re working multiple roles,” she said.

She echoed Morris’s sentiment that multiple attempts were made to make management aware of the issues in administering services.

“They have all gone unanswered,” said Devito.

CHL workers said they have made their concerns about the deteriorating quality of care known to management repeatedly via email, before the state investigation shut the programs down.

“UMass CHL front line workers are dedicated to the communities they serve and have advocated tirelessly for management to address the issues the programs are facing. Their concerns were repeatedly disregarded. The closure of the detox program, TSS, and Passages is a result of severe mismanagement, and the best way to re-open these programs safely is to work with frontline staff to implement solutions,” said the letter.

Over two dozen workers and supporters waited over an hour to deliver the letter, but no representative from UMass Memorial was made available. The group subsequently went to the Community Healthlink offices, in an attempt to deliver the letter to outgoing CHL President Tamara Lundi or another member of management at the organization. No one from CHL leadership was made available to receive the letter either, and it was eventually given to Lundi’s assistant.

When asked, UMass Memorial officials declined to comment on why no one from administration was able to accept the letter.

Workers and advocates emphasized the community impact of the closure of the substance abuse programs amid the opioid crisis. CHL is the designated Community Behavioral Health Center for the Worcester County North and Central regions

“There’s a great need in the city,” said Helen Malone, a counselor at CHL for 30 years.

Khrystian King, councilor-at-large for the City of Worcester, said the closure of the programs will have an impact on the city.

“There’s a major community impact for the city of Worcester. We’re a hub, we serve a lot of folks who have a lot of life challenges, and that impacts our families here in the city, not just the individuals,” said King.

King said he had been made aware of the concerns workers had about safety and provision of services.

“It was my expectation that CHL came to the table with the workers to address those issues. I actually reached out to Tamara Lundi and encouraged her to do so, because it’s these folks who have brought those pressing issues forward,” said King.

“If management had been responsive to the workers, perhaps we wouldn't be here,” he said.