In Recent News

There’s a lot to keep up with in the news nowadays. Here’s a summary roundup of recent news stories that are particularly pertinent to SHARE members . . . 

Donations to the Ease Fund 

Kudos to CEO Eric Dickson for committing his full income to the Ease Fund. MassLive reports: “During the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Eric Dickson, the CEO of UMass Memorial Health Care, and Dr. Cathy Jones, Dicksons’ wife and a UMass Memorial physician, are donating all of their paychecks to the health care system’s employee assistance fund.” Other hospital leaders, including Chief Administrative Officer Doug Brown, have made similar pledges. 

The Ease Fund is administered and distributed by the Employee Assistance Program to provide aid. The fund is one of their many ways to help employees of UMass Memorial through financial hardship, The EAP website also provides many other COVID-19 related resources.  

Locals Focus on Global Problems 

We’re excited to recognize the work that’s being done in our back yard toward the prevention and treatment of coronavirus. M2D2, a collaboration involving UMass Medical School and UMass Lowell, has shifted much of its focus to potential vaccines, testing research, and medical device design related to COVID-19, according to the UMass Lowell News. 

Meanwhile, the Boston Globe reports that UMass Memorial is one of three hospitals in Massachusetts to receive approval to launch the first US clinical trial of a Japanese flu drug that could be used to treat COVID-19. 

Some Good Financial News at UMass Memorial 

In this recent interview on the Greater Boston television show, UMass Memorial CEO describes our preparedness for COVID-19 here in Central Mass.  

UMass Memorial has had some good fortune and been forward thinking in its approach to keeping its employees paid for the time being. In a recent town-hall meeting, hospital leaders described how last year’s sale of its pharmacy management joint ventures has provided liquid assets to help our hospital respond to the crisis. The funds had not yet been re-invested in the stock market (phew!). The investments in much-needed equipment and facility upgrades will still need to come from somewhere, but that cash-on-hand helps our hospital to be somewhat more nimble than it might otherwise have been.  

In other fortunate financial news, the Telegram reports that “Mapfre Insurance. . . announced a donation of $2.3 million across five Massachusetts-based organizations – including UMass Memorial Health Care and Harrington HealthCare. The insurance company has committed $38 million worldwide to medical providers and communities.” 

COVID-19 and the Financial Health of Hospitals 

The broader news across US hospitals is more grim. The Guardian reports that the United States for-profit healthcare sector has cut thousands of jobs in the wake of the coronavirus. 

Becker’s Hospital Review recently pointed to another disturbing cost-cutting measure, writing that “Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare, which operates 65 hospitals across the U.S., is postponing match payments to employees' 401(k) savings plans to direct more resources toward hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic.”  

Although SHARE was encouraged to see the precedent set as AFSCME Council 93 and Governor Baker came to an agreement about hazard pay for some of their union’s hospital members, we also note this report in Becker’s that Boston-based Partners Healthcare has announced that it will not make hazard pay available to frontline staff. 

To Be Continued. . .  

SHARE will continue to keep its eye on trends, as we keep our focus on the day-to-day life of our own hospital. Right now, this especially includes UMass Memorial’s Labor Pool program. This redeployment system has been another major factor in the hospital’s ability to keep employees on the books. Although the Labor Pool is proving to be a complicated process to implement, and continues to evolve, it’s helping to maintain jobs . . . and to provide help to those areas where the workloads are increasing, where patients and the SHARE members who care for them most need the help.  

As always, thank you for the work you do to keep our hospital, our community, and our union running strong. 

ICYMI: Raise Time Is Time to Evaluate Your Retirement Strategy

In Case You Missed It!

And, because it’s a good annual reminder, we’re re-printing the article below, which originally appeared on the old SHARE blog. The world’s a little bit different now than it was when this originally appeared. Jay Hagan is now the SHARE Union Co-President on the Memorial Campus, for one thing. But his financial advisor’s tip is still relevant, and so are the facts and resources listed here. And at the end of this re-print, we’ve added a few extra useful tidbits.

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Original post: September 23, 2015

With the SHARE raise coming in October, this is a good time to think about starting or increasing your 401K deduction. Some folks choose this time to increase their contribution because they say they won't miss the money as much if the deduction starts at the same time as the raise.

While all SHARE members automatically accrue toward retirement through the Defined Benefit Pension, the UMass Memorial 401k plan allows you to save for retirement, pre-tax, with UMass Memorial contributing too. If you’ve been to a SHARE Retirement Training, you know that experts retirement say we should think of a solid retirement income as a three-legged stool, with the pension serving as one leg, Social Security as a second leg, and your total savings functioning as the third leg.

Though the coming raise is designed to grow your income ahead of inflation, lots of people need that raise to live on. Deciding the save money with the 401K is a tough choice for many SHARE members. The younger you start, the less you have to take out of your check each week to reach your goals.

Memorial CT Technologist and SHARE Executive Board Member Jay Hagan has served as a member of the SHARE team that has negotiated with management about the current retirement benefits. “I think a lot of SHARE members don’t realize they’re leaving money on the table if they don't save through the 401k,” he says. “My financial advisor tells me, 'if you can afford it, the employer-match is really free money.' You could think of it as the hospital paying you to participate. If you don't use the match, it's like giving the money back.”

UMass Memorial adds $.25 for each dollar you contribute to your 401k, matching up to 1% of your pay. The importance of investment savings increases in 2017, when the hospital will phase-in changes to the pension accrual rate. At that point, the UMMHC match is scheduled to increase to $.50, and up to 2% of your pay.

If you have questions about SHARE’s negotiated retirement benefits, please contact the SHARE office. If you have questions about your own 401k, contact Fidelity Investments at 800-343-0860, or log on to your Fidelity account at www.fidelity.com/atwork.

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It’s always easy to find other ways to spend your money, but be sure to show some compassion to your future self, too. That person will be grateful that the “current you” took advantage of the employer’s match, and socked away some money for yourself in your 401k. Check out these resources . . .

• This article explains the value of compound interest, and why investing now gives you so much more than investing later.

• Fidelity NetBenefits provides this individualized investment calculator that can help you understand just how different contribution amounts affect your long-term investments.

• So many decisions! Seem like too much? Dr. Laurie Santos of Yale University tackles the subject of “decision fatigue” in episode 8 of her podcast, The Happiness Lab. (She talks about the subject of 401k’s around minute 14 of the broadcast.)

• And it may seem silly to literally imagine your future self, but that can actually be useful to your financial health, according to this report.