Dear Friends:
    Reading about the firings of LCs in Austin brings back terrible memories
of similar events starting here in Philadelphia in the early 90s, when
medicine went corporate. The latest in a long line of events was about a year ago,
when one of the hospitals in the Tenet chain fired not only its wonderful LC,
but also its chaplain! Now mothers truly don't have a prayer at that
facility.....
    The neighborhood hospital is under siege here as well, with several being
closed in the past few years. Only the big mergers and big medical centers
are staying open; women now have to travel for care.
    What can we do? Hospitals are fighting to 1) survive, and 2) to protect
the salaries of their CEOs. Neither of these goals has anything to do with the
health of mothers and babies.
    I am sorry to learn of Austin's plight.
    warmly,
Nikki Lee RN, MS, Mother of 2, IBCLC, CCE, CIMI
Maternal-Child Adjunct Faculty Union Institute and University
Film Reviews Editor, Journal of Human Lactation
Support the WHO Code and the Mother-Friendly Childbirth Initiative

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