This week, National Hospital Week, is set aside to focus attention on a very important component of health care. In Bangor, and throughout Maine, we should feel both proud and blessed to have high quality hospitals providing essential services to our citizens.

It is important to recognize that hospitals are not simply bricks and mortar with technologically advanced medical equipment. Health care, and particularly hospital care, is about people providing comfort and care to their fellow citizens 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

At Eastern Maine Medical Center we have established the goal to be the employer of choice in Maine. EMMC is committed to providing a respectful, safe, and healthy workplace and an environment in which caregivers feel supported, receive competitive pay and are engaged in EMMC’s mission. I strongly believe we are succeeding!

EMMC currently employs more than 3,200 people, a strong caregiving team striving to make a difference.

We perform an astounding variety of jobs, each of which is essential to the functioning of the hospital and the care it provides. Employees have heard me say many times that no matter what job they perform, because it supports EMMC’s ability to care for patients, they are all caregivers. Our team of conscientious, compassionate, and highly skilled employees is focused on you, our patients and fellow community members, in a number of settings throughout the region.

And who is to care for these caregivers? As a 30 plus year member of the EMMC team myself, I am acutely aware of the need to appreciate our most valuable resource: the people, employees and volunteers alike, who work here. In fact, the care of the caregivers is a stated part of EMMC’s mission: … to care for patients, families, communities,

and one another.

For the past year or more, about 1,000 employees at EMMC have been pursued for recruitment by the International Machinists and Aerospace Workers Union. Historically, unions possess a long standing and respected history of support to disenfranchised workers. This was particularly true during this country’s industrialization period in the early part of the 20th century. Not surprisingly, however, there has been a substantial decline in union membership as a percentage of the total national work force over the past 60 years (from it’s height of 35 percent in 1945 to 13 percent today).

The primary reasons for union representation in the American workplace have, over the years, been diluted by growing employer recognition of the value and importance of the people in their organizations, as well as strong state and nationally enacted workplace laws protecting workers. Agencies like the National Labor Relations Board and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration have successfully promoted employee choice and safety in the workplace.

As our country has lost jobs in industries like manufacturing to overseas markets, unions have looked to industries with large, locally rooted employee bases to help ensure their own future survival. Across the country the two most

popular industry targets have

become health care and gaming.

One of the tactics being used by some unions seeking to add to their membership is the “corporate campaign,” designed to discredit the employer. This tactic is most often used by unions targeting an organization that cherishes its reputation.

EMMC is a part of the fabric of this community and there is tremendous pride in its success, locally, regionally, and nationally. Because public trust and confidence in EMMC as an employer and a health care provider is of paramount importance, I want to be sure the public has all the information it needs to assess our performance. I invite you to stay informed about what is taking place at EMMC. Our Web site, www.emmc.org has a very good story

to tell you about us. Please look over

the section “Employer of Choice.”

Finally, EMMC supports its employees’ right to choose or not choose to be represented by a union. However, the same laws that guarantee the rights of employees to speak in favor of unions give employers and employees the right to speak about why a union is not necessary.

The current collaboration between all employees at EMMC is truly remarkable and is bringing EMMC to new levels of performance from patient satisfaction and patient safety, to high quality care, employee satisfaction, and staff retention. I urge the residents of our communities to read our story. It will preserve their confidence in EMMC, not as the institution of “bricks and mortar” on the river, but rather as the deeply committed caregiver of our community.

During National Hospital Week please take the time to thank those amazing physicians, nurses, hospital staff and volunteers who comprise that caregiving team, as I try to do each and every day.

Deborah Carey Johnson, RN, is president and CEO of Eastern Maine Medical Center.