CRONA
Committee for Recognition of Nursing Achievement
Area Representatives and Membership Meetings
August 2 and 7, 2007

This is the third in a series of educational information.

MEDICAL BENEFITS WHEN YOU RETIRE

The plan as summarized below is not part of the CRONA contract. The plan can be changed by SHC/LPCH at anytime.

There are four levels of coverage for medical benefits when you retire.
1. Group A
2. Group B
3. Group C
4. Group D

Some of the criteria that determine your group are: 1) your hire date, and 2) your age and years of continuous service with no breaks in service on December 31, 1992, October 31, 1997, or November 1, 1997. For example, individuals hired by SHC/LPCH on or after November 1, 1997 belong to Group D.

Continuous service is all the time you worked as a regular, benefit-eligible employee provided there is no break in service. Service as a Relief RN does not qualify as continuous service even if the RN has paid health and dental benefits from SHC/LPCH, i.e., Relief C RNs.

A break in service occurs when you leave SHC/LPCH for more than one year. If you return to work within one year, your prior eligible service is restored, but not your time away.

You do not incur a break in service during an approved LOA, unless the LOA lasts longer then 6 months (7 months for combined pregnancy and family leave).

Your “Retiree Group” determines which plan you are eligible for as well as your share of the cost for your retiree medical coverage.

Even if you are not near retirement we encourage you to stop by the satellite Benefits Office located on the ground floor at SHC to determine your retiree group. Knowing which group you belong will help you plan for your retirement accordingly.

To better understand the Medical Retiree Benefits we encourage you to attend the Medical Retiree Benefits class that is held the last Thursday of each month from 12:00 – 1:30 pm at the LPCH auditorium.

For more information you can also download the Retiree Medical Insurance Handbook Booklet I by logging on to econnect.

Table for Cost Sharing
Click here for the table outling the cost sharing for retiree medical benefits

We hope that this information will help you plan your retirement contributions accordingly.

The hospital has resisted CRONA’s attempts to improve Retiree Medical Benefits in past negotiations.

August 30, 2007 CEU Class “Can We Talk” at the Four Season’s in Palo Alto: Due to the large interest and the number of early registrations, CRONA has been able to increase the number that can be accommodated at the CEU Class. Click here for the August 30, 2007 CEU Class Registration Form for Can We Talk Betsey Moore at the Four Season’s in Palo Alto

Sunny Balson, Secretary
On behalf of the CRONA Executive Board

CRONA Convention

The CRONA yearly convention will be held Tuesday, October 2, 2007 in the LPCH auditorium. Names of Area Representatives and Committee Members have been submitted to the respective Vice Presidents of Patient Care Services at SHC and LPCH in order to facilitate scheduling. Please remember to request the day off.

The educational sessions in the morning and early afternoon will offer free CE credits. We would like to invite all our CRONA members to attend. We will have speakers from the California Board of Registered Nursing, CRONA’s law firm, Fidelity and TIAA-CREF.

Free continental breakfast and lunch will be provided. Please email crona@crona.org by September 24, 2007 if you are able to attend.

The convention starts at 0730.

Sincerely,
The CRONA Executive Board

CRONA Elections

Our CRONA elections will be conducted electronically from midnight Friday, October 19, 2007 to midnight Sunday, November 4, 2007. Your respective Area Representatives will be asking you to update your home email addresses. If you do not have a home email address, we will be asking you for your updated home mailing address. We will send paper ballots to members with no home email addresses.

The deadline for nominating Officers, Committee members, and Area Representatives is August 15, 2007. Please email your nominations to the Ballot and Election Committee at crona@crona.org or fax to the CRONA office at 650-366-0182. Please do not fax from the hospital.

You can also self-nominate by completing a Consent To Serve Form. The form can be downloaded from crona.org. Fax your Consent To Serve Form to the CRONA office by August 15, 2007.

We encourage you to run for any of the following positions listed as follows.

CRONA Executive Board: President, Executive Vice President, Vice President for LPCH, Secretary, Treasurer, 2 Nurse Advocates, Legislative Representative.

Committees and the number of positions for each Committee are:
1. Bylaws – 9 members
2. Finance – 5 members
3. Ballot and Election – 9 members
4. Negotiation for LPCH – 12 members
5. Negotiation for SHC – 12 members
6. Contingency – 12 members

Area Representatives and the number of positions for each unit:

LPCH Area Representatives Positions

2 North – 3
3 East – 2
3 North – 2
3 South – 2
3 West – 3
ACC Clinic D – 1
APU/VAD – 1
Cardiology Clinic – 1
Castro Commons – 1
CPCU- El Camino – 1
CVICU -4
Day Hospital – 1
Float Pool – 1
Home Infusion – 1
Int. Care Nursery – 3
Labor and Delivery – 4
LPCH Dialysis – 1
LPCH MRI – 1
Maternity Services – 5
Med Spec Clinic – 1
Neonatal Crit Care Transport – 1
Neurosciences Clinic – 1
NICU – 9
OB/GYN Clinic B – 1
PAC- 1
LPCH PACU – 1
PEC El Camino – 1
Pedi CCT – 1
Pediatric ICU – 3
Pediatric Telecenter – 2
Perinatal Diagnostic – 1
Primary Care Clinic – 1
Renal/Derm Clinic – 1
Respiratory Spec – 1
SCN – Washington – 2
SCN LPCH – 2
SCN- Sequoia – 2
Surgery Dept – LPCH – 1
Surgical Spec Clinic – 1

SHC Area Representatives Positions

Apheresis – 1
ASC -3
ATU – 2
B1 – 2
B2 – 3
B3 – 3
C1 (CIRU) – 2
C2 – 2
C3 -2
Cath-Angio – 2
CCU/CSU- 4
Critical Care Float – 1
D Ground – 4
D2/D3 – 5
Dialysis (SDC) – 1
E1 – 3
E3 – 3
ECG – 1
ECHO Lab – 1
EICU – 9
Emergency Sevices – 5
Endoscopy – 1
F Ground – 3
F3 – 3
G2 (G2T) – 1
G2P – 2
GCRC/H1 – 1
GYN Clinic – 1
H2 – 1
Home Pharmacy – 1
Infusion Therapy – 3
Life Flight/Transport – 1
Med./Surg Float – 1
MRI/Body Scanner – 1
North ICU – 7
Nursing Administration – 1
Occupational Health Services – 1
Operating Room – 5
SHC PACU – 2
Pain Facility – 1
Radiation Onc. – 1
REI Clinic – 1
SAU – 1
Stanford Medical Group – 1
Stanford Vitroretinal CTR – 1
Stoma – 1
Urology – 1
Vadem Clinic – 1
Vascular Surgery – 1

Thank you for your participation.

Sincerely,
Coleen Salsbery, Chairperson
Ballot and Election Committee