Latest news with #DanielDavis
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Fresno hospital system quietly cuts hundreds of nursing supervisor roles
In the Spotlight is a Fresno Bee series that digs into the high-profile local issues that readers care most about. Story idea? Email tips@ Fresno's largest healthcare system discreetly slashed hundreds of nursing supervisor positions in recent weeks as part of a staffing shakeup. Nearly 300 clinical nursing supervisors employed by Community Health System were informed that they had to decide whether to take a pay cut, apply for a leadership position or accept a severance package. A March 4 letter obtained by The Bee confirms CHS notified Fresno city and county officials about plans to eliminate 285 positions due to the hospital system 'restructuring its operations.' The letter said the layoffs impacted 180 positions at Community Regional Medical Center, as well as 19 positions at Fresno Heart & Surgical Hospital and 86 positions at Clovis Community Medical Center. The layoffs at CHS took effect May 3, weeks before news broke that the health system agreed to settle a federal probe and pay a $31.5 million fine, raising questions for some staff members. Last month, CHS entered a massive settlement agreement announced last month by the U.S. Attorney's Office. The settlement addresses allegations that CHS was involved in a multi-year kickback scheme in which hospital executives provided expensive wine, liquor, cigars and meals to physicians in exchange for patient referrals. CHS denies the settlement was the reason for the staffing changes. 'Community frequently evaluates our care model to assure that we have the right staffing mix to meet changing patient care needs,' Daniel Davis, R.N. division president of hospitals for CHS, said in a statement. 'This shift was driven solely by clinical best practice and patient care needs and was not designed to achieve cost savings,' Davis said. Any company with 75 or more employees must file a WARN notice if it lays off 50 or more employees in a 30-day period, according to state law. Hospital spokesperson Mary Lisa Russell said a WARN notice was sent out in early March, as required by law. However, a spokesperson for the state's Employment Development Department said they had no record of a WARN notice from CHS. Two nurse supervisors said the 285 impacted employees were forced to apply to new leadership positions, or take a demotion, with the majority taking big pay cuts. 'We were told that these changes had nothing to do with finances. That is incredibly hard to believe,' said one former nursing supervisor who spoke on condition of anonymity due to fear of professional retaliation. The nursing supervisor said rumors started circulating in February about the elimination of clinical nursing supervisor roles. She said affected staff met individually with human resources to explore their options — either applying for assistant nurse manager, charge nurse or clinical nurse ladder positions, or accept a severance package. CHS also offered two-year retention bonuses. Most positions offered lower pay than the eliminated supervisor role. Another nursing supervisor who had worked at Community for more than a decade — who said she loved her job and had no discipline record — accepted a severance package after her position was eliminated. The supervisor said she thinks the restructuring was a cost-saving measure. She said employees and patient care were sacrificed to pay for leadership's actions. Clinical supervising nurses who accepted other nursing positions have to be retrained on charting and other bedside nurse responsibilities, she said. 'I loved working here, I love my team,' she said. Davis said CHS developed a new job description for assistant nurse manager, which is a model of clinical leadership and staffing followed by other local hospitals like Kaiser, Kaweah Health and Sutter Health. 'Based on those needs and industry best practice to support nursing at the bedside, we transitioned away from Clinical Nursing Supervisors and toward a combined Assistant Nurse Manager and Charge Nurse model,' Davis said. Davis said that 247 of the 285 affected nurses transitioned to new roles. 'Only a small percentage chose to separate,' he said. He also said in the coming months, 'nearly 95% of our workforce will see compensation increases as we continue to implement an organization-wide set of adjustments to align with California's new healthcare minimum wage.' A new state law signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2023 requires an increase in the minimum wage for workers at several eligible healthcare facilities.
Yahoo
06-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Scientists discover new part of the immune system
A new part of the immune system has been discovered and it is a goldmine of potential antibiotics, scientists have said. They've shown a part of the body known to recycle proteins has a secret mode that can spew out an arsenal of bacteria-killing chemicals. The researchers in Israel say it transforms our understanding of how we are protected against infection. And gives a new place to look for antibiotics to tackle the growing problem of superbugs that resist our current drugs. The discovery centres on the proteasome – a tiny structure that is found in every cell of the body. Its main role is to chop up old proteins into smaller chunks so they can be recycled to make new ones. But a series of experiments, detailed in the journal Nature, shows the proteasome detects when a cell has been infected by bacteria. It then changes structure and role. It starts transforming old proteins into weapons that can rip open the outer layer of bacteria to kill them. Prof Yifat Merbl, from the Weizmann Institute of Science, told me: "This is really exciting, because we never knew that this was happening. "We discovered a novel mechanism of immunity that is allowing us to have a defense against bacterial infection. "It's happening throughout our body in all the cells, and generates a whole new class of potential natural antibiotics." The research team went through a process they called "dumpster diving" to find these natural antibiotics. They were tested on bacteria growing in the laboratory and on mice with pneumonia and sepsis. The researchers said they were getting results comparable to some established antibiotics. And when the researchers took cells in the laboratory and disabled the proteasome they were far easier to infect with bacteria like Salmonella. Prof Daniel Davis, the head of life sciences and an immunologist at Imperial College London, said the findings were "extremely provocative and very interesting" as they changed our understanding of how our body fights infection. "What's really exciting about this, is it's a totally undiscovered process by which anti-germ molecules are made inside our cells, it feels profoundly important and surprising." But he cautioned that turning this into a new source of antibiotics is an idea that "still needs to be tested" and that will take time. More than a million people a year are estimated to die from infections that are resistant to drugs like antibiotics. Drug-resistant infections killing millions - study But despite the need, there has been a lack of research into developing new antibiotics to keep up with demand. Against that bleak background, having somewhere new to look is a source of optimism for some scientists. Dr Lindsey Edwards, a senior lecturer in microbiology at King's College London, told the BBC: "It's a potential goldmine for new antibiotics, that's quite exciting. "In previous years it's been digging up soil [to find new antibiotics], it is wild that it's something we have within us, but comes down to having the technology to be able to detect these things." She also says there could be fewer issues with developing them into drugs because they are already products of the human body so the "safety side of it might be a lot easier".
BBC News
06-03-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Scientists discover new part of the immune system
A new part of the immune system has been discovered and it is a goldmine of potential antibiotics, scientists have shown a part of the body known to recycle proteins has a secret mode that can spew out an arsenal of bacteria-killing researchers in Israel say it transforms our understanding of how we are protected against gives a new place to look for antibiotics to tackle the growing problem of superbugs that resist our current drugs. The discovery centres on the proteasome – a tiny structure that is found in every cell of the main role is to chop up old proteins into smaller chunks so they can be recycled to make new a series of experiments, detailed in the journal Nature, shows the proteasome detects when a cell has been infected by then changes structure and role. It starts transforming old proteins into weapons that can rip open the outer layer of bacteria to kill them. Prof Yifat Merbl, from the Weizmann Institute of Science, told me: "This is really exciting, because we never knew that this was happening."We discovered a novel mechanism of immunity that is allowing us to have a defense against bacterial infection."It's happening throughout our body in all the cells, and generates a whole new class of potential natural antibiotics."The research team went through a process they called "dumpster diving" to find these natural were tested on bacteria growing in the laboratory and on mice with pneumonia and sepsis. The researchers said they were getting results comparable to some established when the researchers took cells in the laboratory and disabled the proteasome they were far easier to infect with bacteria like Salmonella. Prof Daniel Davis, the head of life sciences and an immunologist at Imperial College London, said the findings were "extremely provocative and very interesting" as they changed our understanding of how our body fights infection."What's really exciting about this, is it's a totally undiscovered process by which anti-germ molecules are made inside our cells, it feels profoundly important and surprising."But he cautioned that turning this into a new source of antibiotics is an idea that "still needs to be tested" and that will take than a million people a year are estimated to die from infections that are resistant to drugs like antibiotics. But despite the need, there has been a lack of research into developing new antibiotics to keep up with that bleak background, having somewhere new to look is a source of optimism for some scientists. Dr Lindsey Edwards, a senior lecturer in microbiology at King's College London, told the BBC: "It's a potential goldmine for new antibiotics, that's quite exciting."In previous years it's been digging up soil [to find new antibiotics], it is wild that it's something we have within us, but comes down to having the technology to be able to detect these things."She also says there could be fewer issues with developing them into drugs because they are already products of the human body so the "safety side of it might be a lot easier".
The Hill
28-02-2025
- Politics
- The Hill
Zelensky meeting with Trump to sign minerals deal: Lt Col Daniel Davis interview
Ret. Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Davis discusses President Trump's meeting with Ukrainian President Zelensky in Washington.
The Hill
18-02-2025
- Politics
- The Hill
Zelenskyy snubbed? Rubio in peace talks with Lavrov in Saudi Arabia: Ret. Lt Col Daniel Davis interview
Lt. Col. Daniel Davis (Retd) discusses the inconclusive talks between the U.S and Russia over the Ukraine-Russia war.
