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AFSCME Council 31 Releases Report on Resurrection Health Care

In an alarming analysis of how Resurrection Health Care delivers services, AFSCME Council 31 researchers found that corporate growth and profits have a greater priority than quality care to the Chicago-based health care system.

The report, based on interviews with nurses throughout the Resurrection system and data from public records and quality oversight agencies, found serious lapses in patient care, higher prices for services and inadequate staffing.

The report also reveals that the health care system's rapid expansion — from a single community hospital to a profitable chain of nine hospitals — is largely to blame for conditions that have deteriorated in recent years. AFSCME has been organizing workers at Resurrection Health Care since 2003.

Specifically, the researchers found:

  • Regulators uncovered evidence of violations linked to patient deaths in routine procedures, exposure to life threatening infections, physical and sexual assault, and physicians performing surgery after their medical privileges had been suspended.
  • Resurrection hospitals show higher mortality rates than other Cook County hospitals for patients admitted for conditions such as congestive heart failure and stroke.
  • Resurrection's median charges are above Cook County averages for treatment of the same ailments, and Resurrection's overall price markup of 315 percent of cost is the highest of any Illinois health care system.
  • Nurses report widespread problems with broken equipment and missing supplies.
  • As Resurrection expanded, the percentage of revenues spent on bedside care declined sharply.

A copy of the full report is available on the Council 31 website.

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