Nurses Association To Testify on Bill Addressing Hospitals with Offshore Accounts

The Massachusetts Nurses Association wants you to know how your local hospital is spending patient and taxpayer money.

The MNA will testify at a hearing before the Massachusetts Health Care Financing Committee Wednesday, supporting a bill that would bring greater financial transparency to the hospital industry.

MNA Director of Public Communications, David Schildmeier, says many Massachusetts hospitals, including St. Luke's and Tobey Hospital, store millions of dollars in offshore accounts. "And all we hear every year is 'We can't afford to open this detox unit or to keep it open. We can't afford to keep open a pedatric unit at this hospital. We can't afford to keep these psychiatric beds open for patients who need these services because money is so tight and our profit margins are so low."

In order to draw attention to the hearing, the MNA has arranged for a hospital CEO mascot dressed in a "fat cat" costume to deliver audible Cayman Island greeting cards to legislators.