United and Strong in California!
Statewide gathering sets agenda for future victories
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Harvard Sleep Researcher Laura Barger, PhD (second from the left) delivered the keynote address at the annual California statewide meeting. She is pictured here with (from left) CIR Delegate Teri Reynolds, Regional VP Nailah Thompson, & Executive VP Christine Delhendorf.
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On October 14, 2006, CIR’s six chapters in California gathered for their annual statewide meeting. The theme was “United Together,” and residents from the Golden State pledged a united effort to support critical health care ballot initiatives in the November election, and to continue their ongoing struggle to improve conditions and patient care within the state’s hospitals.
The event kicked off with the presentation of the Stronger Together Award to Pilar Schiavo, the Political Director of the San Francisco Labor Council. This honor, which recognizes tireless and passionate service toward improving health care, was bestowed on Schiavo in recognition of her leadership in the passage of two city ordinances that brought health coverage to more the 16,000 uninsured San Francisco workers.
The keynote address, delivered by Laura Barger, PhD, a researcher in the Division of Sleep Medicine at Harvard University, argued for the need to reduce resident work hours on the basis of new and growing scientific evidence. Barger presented research data linking the fatigue suffered by residents to performance detriments, attention failures, and motor vehicle accidents. She also cited cost effectiveness and concerns about continuity of care in concluding her case for a 16-hour limit for work shifts – significantly less than the 24-hour plus on-call shifts currently allowed by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, the body that oversees residency programs in the US.
Following the presentation, Dr. Nailah Thompson, CIR Regional Vice President from Northern California, facilitated a group dialog on the best strategies and approaches for advancing work hours reform through the CIR chapters.
After a break for workshops on contract enforcement and member mobilization, the California gathering’s focus turned to the upcoming November election. Of greatest interest to the California residents was Proposition 86, a ballot initiative seeking to levy a new tax on cigarettes that would directly fund new initiatives to expand children’s health coverage and emergency services in the state. Springing into action, the residents spent the remainder of the meeting writing letters to the editors of local papers and planning other forms of voter outreach in support of the Proposition.
The voters did not ultimately pass Proposition 86 on Election Day. However, California’s CIR members are not discouraged. Rather, they look forward to future victories as they continue – together and united – in their fight for better hospital conditions and improved health care for all Golden Staters.