Sawmill votes to stop hospital '638, questions arise over resolution

Opponents of privatizing the IHS hospital in Fort Defiance are rushing a resolution to halt the process to other chapters in the region.

On Sunday, Sawmill Chapter voters approved a resolution asking the Fort Defiance Indian Hospital Board to stop the '638 process from moving forward.

The resolution was identical to one passed a week earlier by Fort Defiance Chapter and was not properly updated to accurately reflect Sawmill, chapter officials later said.

Lewis Shirley, chapter vice president, said they realized after it passed that it might not work.

"This is a legal document so we have to see what can be done. We might have to have them present a decent resolution," he said.

Shirley said the chapter may have to rescind the resolution and vote on a new version with appropriate wording.

Opponents of the plan to transfer the hospital to a nonprofit corporation under Public Law 93-638 presented a copy of the resolution that was passed March 7 by the Fort Defiance and suggested Sawmill simply replace "Fort Defiance" with "Sawmill" where appropriate.

Their haste was driven by the approaching completion date for the transfer - March 28 - which many employees say is being rushed so fast that details, particularly how the change will affect their job security, pay and benefits, are left uncertain.

Because the transition is so far along - with one transition official calling it a "done deal" - the only chance to slow things down is to raise support among chapters in the hospital service area, the employees say.

Sawmill passed the resolution 26-0, rescinding its earlier approval of the privatization. Then chapter officials spotted the problematic wording.

For instance, the original Fort Defiance resolution refers to a report about employee concerns from Lillie Yellowhair, president of the Laborers' International Union of North America, which represents IHS employees. That same language was in the Sawmill resolution, but altered to say Yellowhair presented to Sawmill members.

"She wasn't even there," Shirley said. "And, we're trying to get in touch with some of those persons so we can revamp this thing so it can look decent."

The chapter has to be careful that its documents remain accurate, he noted.

Although the '638 issue took up the entirety of Sunday's meeting, Chapter Secretary/Treasurer Laurita Begay said the resolution was rushed.

"I said maybe we should table it, set a meeting aside and invite both sides so we can hear everything," Begay said. "But no, they gave us the resolutions. We never got to hear the hospital's side."

The privatizers, however, made their case without challenge last fall, when they visited 10 chapters including Sawmill and obtained resolutions approving the privatization.

IHS, which will have oversight authority to ensure the nonprofit performs its duties properly, required the hospital board to obtain supporting resolutions from each of the communities within the hospital's service unit.

A source on the IHS staff said employees plan to take the Fort Defiance resolution to the remaining chapters in the region, claiming that many were never approached or approved a resolution under sketchy circumstances, such as hauling in a group of elderly from the nearest senior citizen center to make a quorum and vote.

Karen Littleman, the LIUNA steward in Fort Defiance, could not be reached for comment by press time Wednesday.

Shirley said he will likely end up drafting a new document before asking the chapter to rescind the resolution and vote on a clean version.

In the meantime, the Fort Defiance hospital board expects to take over operations at the hospital as planned on March 28.

The board is rushing the '638 process to open up the hospital to an estimated $10 million in additional federal funds if it completes the process by April 1.

However, opponents say the board is rushing the process at the expense of employees, who fear critical parts of the changeover are getting short shrift.

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