UPMC Revises Website

 

 

Story here.

 

That's Church's take here. 

EVENTS!

APRIL 16
UPMC, Blue Ribbon Winner for Largest Tax Exemptions!
When: Monday, April 16, 2012 12:00 pm - 3:00 pm
Where: Wood Street Subway Station, Pittsburgh PA
What: Call out UPMC for being a for-profit masquerading as a nonprofit.
http://onepittsburgh.org/2012/03/23/upmc-blue-ribbon-winner-for-largest-tax-exemptions/

APRIL 17
National Tax Day
When: Tuesday, April 17, 2012 12:00 pm - 2;00 pm
Where: Market square
What: Tax-dodger dodge ball. The 99% vs. the 1%, who will win??? Come play!
http://onepittsburgh.org/2012/03/23/national-tax-day/

OfA Pittsburgh South Side Office Opening
When: Tuesday, April 17, 2012 6:30 PM - 8:30 PM
Where: South Side OFA Pennsylvania Office, 1105 E Carson St, Pittsburgh, PA 15203
What: Obama for America will officially open their second field office in Pittsburgh. RSVP here.

APRIL 18
EQT Shareholder Meeting
When: Wednesday, April 18, 2012 9:00 am - 10:00 am
Where: 625 Liberty Ave, Pittsburgh, PA, United States, 15222
What: Millions in drilling revenue, but delinquent on their taxes?
http://onepittsburgh.org/2012/03/23/eqt-shareholder-meeting/ (possibly overlaps marcellus / drilling themed protest)

Voter ID Collective Action
When: Wednesday, April 18th at NOON
Where: Downtown DMV License Center, 708 Smithfield Street, Pittsburgh 15222.
What: Needed: Rally attendees with signs, people who are impacted disproportionately by the new Voter ID law, to line up outside the door of PennDOT Drivers License Center. Who else should come? All defenders of voting rights, those who need ID or want to help people get ID. Volunteers & supporters to assist, observe, and talk with people who are coming to the DMV center in order to get the free photo ID they will need in order to vote.

APRIL 19
Democracy for Pittsburgh Monthly Meeing/MoveOn Monthly Meeting
When: Thursday, April 19, evening: 6:45 DFA/DFP, 7 PM MoveOn
Where: Steelworkers, USW building, Five Gateway Center, 9th floor, 60 Blvd of the Allies, Pittsburgh PA 15222
What: Montly meetings

Meet-and-Greet with Patrick Murphy
When: Thursday, April 19, 5:30pm until 7:30pm
Where: Shadow Lounge, 5972 Baum Blvd, Pittsburgh, PA 15206
What: Councilor Bill Peduto will host a Meet-and-Greet with Patrick Murphy (running in the Democratic primary for Attorney General of Pennsylvania)
RSVP: Email breen@billpeduto.com
Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/events/288170647925126/
Murphy Website: http://www.murphyforpa.com


Post Updated: 4/17/12

Theft

I guess she should have been grateful that they didn't charge her for the oxygen in the air she breathed while there.

(h/t to A Spork in the Drawer)
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Pictures of a Protest

Lots of photographs from yesterday's protest of the closing of UPMC-Braddock Hospital at A Spork in the Drawer.
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"CLOSING DAY" / KEEP IT OPEN Rally for UPMC/Braddock Hospital

First, a preliminary injunction request regarding the closing of UPMC/Braddock Hospital will be held tomorrow:
Date: Jan. 27th Wednesday
Time: 1:30 pm (meet in lobby at 1:00 pm)
Place: City County Building
Judge Strassburger--Room 819

"CLOSING DAY" / KEEP IT OPEN Rally:
Last chance to rally before the planned closure
Date: Saturday, January 30th
Time: NOON
Place: UPMC/Braddock Hospital
Fifth Street above Braddock Avenue in Braddock

http://www.savebraddock.org

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Saving Pittsburgh's Paramount Pictures Film Exchange Building

Pittsburgh City Council will hold a final public hearing on designating the Paramount Pictures Film Exchange building as a City Historic Landmark today, January 12^th at 1:30 p.m.

Built in 1926, the Paramount Pictures Film Exchange served as the sole distribution point for major motion pictures between Hollywood and local theaters. It's now in danger of becoming a UPMC warehouse.

You can read more about it here. There's also this neat little video about the building's historical significance:


If you think that UPMC could survive without gobbling up this one building, come out and support historic preservation (or at least shoot your councilor a call or email).
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Condition L at UPMC (Come out, come out, wherever you are!)

The Post-Gazette has an article on the lawsuit that resulted from a patient, Rose Lee Diggs, being found dead on a freezing rooftop after she had wandered away from her room in December. Diggs had a history of wandering and it took the hospital over 12 hours to find her after she was reported missing.

What I found interesting in the article was this:

Following the death of Ms. Diggs, UPMC officials created a plan that would require prompt and extensive searches for any patient that went missing in the hospital system.

Called "Condition L," the plan involves a hospital-wide alert, and every available employee joins a coordinated search of the medical complex.

"UPMC is confident these initiatives will further ensure the safest environment possible for our patients," Mr. Wood said. "We have had a small number of Condition L's called, and in every case the patient has been located."

I find this interesting because a patient at UPMC told me that that when they did a test of "Condition L" a few weeks ago, there were hospital staffers wandering around asking each other, "What are we supposed to do?"

Moreover, according to what staffers told this patient, the volunteer who was playing the lost patient ended up falling asleep in her hiding place, eventually woke up and was so tired of waiting to be found that she came out of hiding and, uh, "unlost" herself. (I guess the patient ran out of patience.)

I'm just wondering if UPMC counts that as "in every case the patient has been located."

Olly olly oxen free!
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I have a question.

While we see that "UPMC drops tax credit bid" in exchange for its commitment to the Pittsburgh Promise and that they will continue contributing to the Pittsburgh Public Service Fund, I don't see where they state outright that they wouldn't decide to renege on promised Promise funds on their own if they ever end up having to pay taxes.

Did I miss that?

UPDATE: Bob Mayo has pointed me to the answer to my question. His post this morning is full of links including this one which is UPMC's own press release where it states quite clearly that in the event that UPMC is ever taxed, they will give themselves the option to reduce their promised Promise:

“While UPMC will continue to welcome any supportive resolutions from the City Council, none are necessary for our commitment to the Pittsburgh Promise to go forward,” said UPMC general counsel Robert Cindrich. “As has been reported, UPMC’s governing agreement with the Pittsburgh Foundation provides that in the unlikely event of future state legislation that would require UPMC to pay taxes to the City of Pittsburgh and/or the School District, UPMC has the option of taking a dollar for dollar reduction to its payment to the Promise. We believe that it is more important to move forward with the program than to worry about a hypothetical situation, which is highly unlikely to arise,” he added. [Emphasis added]

Thanks, Mr. Mayo!

So in other words, everything that was said by Charlie Robert Cindrich, chief legal counsel to the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, in the contentious City Council meeting still stands: it's a gift with many strings. And, as either Shields or Peduto noted in that meeting, there was never a need for an actual written side agreement by the city, UPMC could always simply say that they would opt out if they wanted for whatever reason.

Of course doing it that way puts the onus on them instead of making it a law that they are merely following. Thus, Lil Mayor Luke Ravenstahl F'd up once again by making a big issue out of it by trying to ram it down Council's throats.

At least this time Lukey's latest cockup hurt his corporate masters instead of the public at large. Perhaps UPMC will think twice about their next celebrity golf gift for Lukey . . . Nah!
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More Strings!

It seems that each day brings a new revelation in the demands being made by the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center from the city in return for their gift donation bribe to The Pittsburgh Promise for college scholarships for city public school grads.

We first learned this week that UPMC wanted a tax credit equal to any monies that they might give to The Pittsburgh Promise.

Today, it was revealed that they will stop making their $1.5 million annual payment to the city for general government.

Neither of these details were revealed in their original splashy press conference announcing their "gift" at the beginning of the month.

Now, 2 Political Junkies has learned that there are even more demands in the rider to UPMC's agreement and we present them exclusively to our readers. These include:

Any and all parking tickets incurred by UPMC vehicles shall be paid out of promised Pittsburgh Promise funds.

All City of Pittsburgh Library overdue book fines incurred by UPMC employees shall be paid out of promised Pittsburgh Promise funds.

The City of Pittsburgh will supply complimentary beverages and lite snacks to UPMC executives. (All brown M&Ms must be removed!)

At Thanksgiving, UPMC shall always be declared the winner of any wishbone pulling contest no matter the size of their respective piece.

12 de-thorned roses shall be delivered daily to the feet of UPMC President and Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey A. Romoff.

Any meeting between UPMC and the city shall take place in an all white room (White flowers. White tablecloths. White curtains. White candles. White couches. Low watt light bulbs.) Coffee to be stirred counterclockwise and 25 cases of Kabbalah water provided.

Any UPMC executive may refer to any elected city official as "Charlie" in a public meeting without being called out for being an arrogant, disrespectful dick.

Pittsburgh City Council members Shields, Peduto and Harris are expected to bulk at the additional requests while Councilman Jim Motznik has been seen helping Mayor Luke Ravenstahl sort through an industrial size bag of M&Ms removing offensively colored candies.

When contacted by 2pj about the other clauses in UPMC's rider, city Chief of Staff Yarone Zober said, "It would be unfortunate if the actions of a few council members have the effect of preventing the class of 2008, those [2,000] seniors, from participating in the Pittsburgh Promise . . . Hey, guys! How are those M&Ms coming?"


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UPMC: The Grinch Who Stole Pittsburgh Promise

"Don't look a gift horse in the mouth."
- Robert Cindrich, chief legal counsel to the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center

Yeah, UPMC's legal rep actually said that to Pittsburgh City Council. Of course, it's looking like the gift horse is more of the Trojan variety, but it was better than what the Mayor's Office had to say at the Council meeting which was exactly nothing. No one bothered to show up from the Ravenstahl Administration today (after asking Council to fast track the bill).

City Solicitor George Specter was there as the Administration's counsel...or is that as Council's counsel...or...who the hell knows! Council President Doug Shields tried to nail Specter down on that point, as well as who exactly negotiated the UPMC Strings Attached Promise and when, but he didn't get any further with that inquiry either.

In addition to Councilman Bill Peduto's plea that Council cannot give a special right to an individual, corporation or non profit, lots of words were thrown around from various Council members describing the UPMC Strings Attached Promise. They included:

"backroom deal"

"side agreement"

"strings attached"

"pig in a poke"

"Trojan horse"

"spin"

IMHO, they all applied only too well.

The main point seems to be that UPMC wants to say that their giving a gift to another non profit (The Pittsburgh Promise) is the same thing as their paying taxes to the city. Or, to look at it from another angle, UPMC wants a right that no one else has: to designate exactly what their (possible future) taxes would pay for. Still another way to look at it is that UPMC is trying to stick the city with the bill for their "gift."

UPMC kept saying that they didn't want to pay twice -- as if a "gift" to a charity should somehow excuse them from paying local taxes. It doesn't for anyone else of course. Cindrich kept saying that they were not asking for a tax credit or deduction. However, he made it clear that if they were ever taxed, they would deduct the amount that they would have to pay in taxes from the amount that they had promised to The Promise.

Now, UPMC can reap much benefits from being able to say that they donated money to pay for secondary education for Pittsburgh public school kids -- makes a nice commercial, no? Compare that to simply having an extremely profitable behemoth merely paying their fair share to the city's tax base. Where's the glory in that?

Come to think of it though, they may be on to something. Can I give my federal tax bill payment to moveon.org instead of to Bush's War on Iraq? OK, OK, better not to even think about messing with the IRS. How about starting small? I demand that none of my city tax payments be used towards paying Clowncilman (and Luke's Best Boy) Jim Motznik's salary. I could live with that!

(Thankfully, the bill will be held until after a Public Hearing.)

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In Luke's Pittsburgh

In Lil Mayor Luke Ravenstahl's Pittsburgh, the corporation is always right and the citizens can be ignored (except when it's time to ask for their votes).

We have two recent examples of this.

The first is Luke acting like The One Hill CBA Coalition are little more than con artists trying to scam the city for cash. It's fine to abruptly walk out on them as they're speaking (if only they had given Lukey a free private jet ride and all-night party in NYC he might have taken them seriously as he does the Pittsburgh Penguins).

The second is Luke's Pittsburgh Promise (talk about a scam). Ravenstahl first announced the program to provide free secondary education to the city's public school residents one year ago and for a year the only funds for the "promise" was $10,000 from Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers.

Then at the beginning of this month, Ravenstahl announced jointly with UPMC that the local healthcare giant would fund a $100 million commitment to The Pittsburgh Promise. Both Luke and UPMC garnered much good will from the gesture.

But then comes the fine print: the monies are matching funds, not seed money. And, now we learn that the very profitable, nonprofit UPMC wants tax credits for their "donation" and Ravenstahl is ready to go to bat for them on that point.

If only Jane/John Q. Public could take Lukey golfing with celebrities for $9,000 a pop perhaps they too could have Luke looking out for their interests.

The Moral of This Story:

At this time of year, when you're trying to finish crossing off names on your gift list, you'd better not forget something for the Boy King Mayor or you'll be the one left with a lump of coal.

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New Ravenstahl Campaign Poster

We managed to snag a copy of the new Luke Ravenstahl for Mayor campaign poster and we present it to you, dear readers:


(Click on poster for larger image)
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DeSantis Pledges Not to Accept Gifts & Favors as Mayor

From the Mark DeSantis Campaign:

MARK DESANTIS MAKES CAMPAIGN PLEDGE THAT HE WILL NOT TAKE ANY GIFTS OR FAVORS AS MAYOR.

SUMMARY:

1) Mr. DeSantis states that as Mayor, “my focus will be on Pittsburgh’s problems and not on accepting personal perks.”

Mr. DeSantis makes this assertion in light of the revelation that Mr. Ravenstahl accepted a gift worth approximately $9,000.00 that included golf “at the Laurel Valley Golf Club, breakfast and lunch in a private dining
area, a gift bag, a commemorative money clip, an evening social and prizes for top finishers.” (From Post-Gazette article dated July 5, 2007). Mr. Ravenstahl accepted this gift instead of attending a public hearing on his controversial promotion of three Pittsburgh police officers with past histories of domestic violence. Mr. DeSantis wants to assure Pittsburgh voters that he will take the responsibility of addressing their needs and priorities in a serious manner.

2) Further, Mr. DeSantis believes that Mr. Ravenstahl’s conduct violates the City of Pittsburgh charter. Specifically, it violates § 197.07 regarding accepting gifts and favors. The ordinance states as follows:

§ 197.07 OFFERING OR ACCEPTING GIFTS AND FAVORS.
A public official, City employee or agent of the City shall not solicit or accept from an interested party, nor shall any interested party offer or give anything of value to a public official, City employee or agent of the city, subject to the following exceptions:
* * *
(f) Admissions to cultural or athletic events not to exceed two hundred fifty dollars ($250.00) per calendar year in the aggregate and one hundred dollars ($100.00) per calendar year from any single person, agent or other interested party; (Ord. 2-1992, eff. 2-13-92)

An “interested party” is defined under the ordinance as:
§ 197.02 DEFINITIONS.
* * *
(g) INTERESTED PARTY.
(1) A person or agent having or seeking to obtain a contract, grant, employment or any financial relationship with the City or any of its departments, agencies, boards, commissions or authorities;
(2) A principal, agent and/or attorney in legal proceedings in which the City is then an adverse party; or
(3) A person with an interest that may be substantially affected by the performance or nonperformance of the official duties of the public official or City employee.
(Ord. 28-1990, eff. 11-28-90)

Mr. Ravenstahl accepted a gift/favor from an interested party and received admission to an athletic event that was worth in excess of $250.00. In addition, he received several other gifts due to his attendance. Mr. Ravenstahl’s focus appears to be on personal gain, rather than governmental accountability. Mr. DeSantis will restore accountability and honesty in government as Mayor of the City of Pittsburgh.
3) Mr. DeSantis is available for interviews on this subject matter.

-30-

http://www.municode.com/resources/gateway.asp?pid=13525&sid=3 (LINK TO CITY CHARTER)

An article in today's Post-Gazette identifies which "interested party" sponsored Luke's golfing vacation: UPMC.

UPMC, being one of the region's largest businesses, of course often has occasion to look for "good will" from City government. Very recent examples of this was their competing to become the single source health care provider in the Mayor's new employee wellness and health care plan and their request to erect a giant 20 foot tall sign on top of the U.S. Steel Tower in Downtown.

Ironically, UPMC just "drafted a get-tough policy that would prohibit its physicians and other employees from accepting almost all freebies." According to UPMC:

Industry influence can result in "unacceptable conflicts of interest," the draft says, adding that financial support or gifts, even in modest amounts, "can exert a subtle but measurable impact on recipients' behavior."

I guess we don't need to wonder how they would feel about one of their own doctors accepting a $9,000.00 golf outing, huh?