Health

Fairlawn Rehab picks new CEO An executive for the northeast division of a national healthcare provider has been appointed to be the new CEO of Worcester's Fairlawn Rehabilitation Hospital. Anne Roper, a Northbridge resident and former northeast regional vice president and controller for Alabama-based Encompass Health, will take over leadership of the 110-bed hospital, which is an affiliate of Encompass. Roper is a former president of Fairlawn's board of directors and is a member of the Massachusetts Hospital Association. Harvard Pilgrim closes Worcester office Health insurer Harvard Pilgrim Health Care has closed its downtown Worcester office. Phil Tracey, a spokesperson for the Wellesley-based firm, said the lease is being discontinued and the insurer's offices in Westborough, shared with subsidiary Health Plants, Inc., will now serve as the Central and Western Massachusetts office. "Harvard Pilgrim's Central & Western Massachusetts team continues to be embedded in the Worcester community," Tracey said. The consolidation resulted in the elimination of two positions, he said. The Worcester office opened in 2011 at 427 Main St. and was led by Worcester native Kate McEvoy, who was the company's vice president of Central and Western Massachusetts. Health Care Br iefs H eywood Hospital in Gardner has settled a case with the National Labor Relations Board after nurses who advocated for safe patient limits during the Question 1 ballot campaign in 2018 said they were threatened for wearing campaign buttons. Two registered nurses, Lisa Sullivan and Bob King, said they were threatened with discipline in September for wearing the buttons advocating for mandated nurse staffing ratios. The nurses, represented by the Massachusetts Nurses Association, filed a complaint with the NLRB after the hospital changed its appearance M arlborough medical device manufacturer Boston Scientific has begun selling a brain stimulation device meant to treat the symptoms of Parkinson's disease. The devices were approved by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration, the Marlborough medical device company said. Boston Scientific's Vercise products are designed to allow physicians an ability to control the range, shape, position and direction of electrical stimulation to treat Parkinson's. A previous Vercise product was the first of its kind when it launched in Europe in 2015, the company said. Vercise was first approved by the FDA in 2017 for use in the United States. Vercise works to stimulate parts of the brain through leads implanted into a small area of the brain powered by an implantable pulse generator to send stimulation to targeted areas. An estimated 60,000 new cases of Parkinson's disease are diagnosed each year, and 1.5 million Americans have the disease, according to the American Association of Neurological Surgeons. H I n n o v a t i o n Fighting Parkinson's Heywood settles labor allegations over nurse ballot question policy without notifying employees or allowing nurses to negotiate the change. Heywood settled the charge after the NLRB issued a complaint for violating the National Labor Relations Act. "I was wearing a button on my scrubs to show support for safe patient limits, as I had done many times in the past for other causes that were important to me," Sullivan said in an MNA statement on the case. "The hospital came down on nurses and patients who supported safe patient limits, even as the hospital itself was holding meetings against Question 1 and posting signs all over the building. A manager even moved a patient's 'Yes on 1' sign from the window of their room." In addition to the alleged intimida- tion inside the hospital, there was a banner outside of the hospital oppos- ing the ballot question. Supervisors carried 'No on 1' lawn signs in the hospital, King said. Heywood CEO Winfield Brown even suggested in a staff-wide email nurses should tell patients to vote against the proposal. "Hospital executives engaged in this kind of behavior and worse all across Massachusetts," King said. Question 1 was ultimately defeat- ed by 70 percent to 30 percent. Proponents said nurses are overbur- dened and need help to ensure the safety of patients, while opponents said it would be too costly and force hospitals to close services. The settlement require the hospital to email a series of statements to employees and post language in sev- eral locations in the hospital affirming the rights of its workers. Heywood agreed to not prevent staff from wearing MNA political items or other political buttons at work while permitting them to wear other buttons. Employee policies will not be changed in response to union activity, the hospital said. The hospital could not immediately be reached for comment. The MNA accused Marlborough Hospital and Lawrence General of violating labor laws by prohibiting workers from wearing attire that sup- ported the ballot initiative. According to the Boston Globe, the NRLB moved to dismiss the com- plaints against those two hospitals despite the acknowledgement they may have violated labor law. H Heywood Hospital faced various accusations over the nurse staffing ratios ballot question, including CEO Winfield Brown allegedly suggesting staff tell patients to vote against it. Anne Roper, CEO, Fairlawn Rehab 4 HE ALTH • Spring 2019

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