2012 is here!

Cypress nurses file complaint

Cypress-area registered nurses filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board against the Cypress Fairbanks Medical Center on Dec. 21, protesting the hospital's sick leave policy.

The nurses publicly accused hospital administrators of adopting a policy that encourages nurses to work while they are sick at a conference last Wednesday. The nurses are asking the hospital to suspend its sick-leave policy during flu season.
The hospital's official sick-leave policy prohibits nurses from taking off more than six sick days within a 12 month period. However, the hospital also allows nurses to take additional days without penalty, if they are able to find a replacement.

To reduce its employees chances of becoming sick, the hospital offers its employees opportunities to receive free flu shots and, according to reports, nurses are required to wear a mask over their nose and mouth at the hospital, if they have not received a flu shot.

"...We have never asked our nurses to report to work with an illness," said hospital spokesperson Nadia Saqr. "As professionals who work in the healthcare industry, we choose to lead by example and do all we can to protect our patients, colleagues, families and friends from preventable illnesses such as the flu."

The nurses at Cypress Fairbanks Medical Center, who became the first Texas members of the National Nurses Organizing Committee-Texas/National Nurses United in 2008, have been publicly protesting the policy since October, but have not received any concessions, resulting in the nurses filing the complaint.
So far, the NLRB has listed the case as pending and has not released any additional information.

Nurses to speak out against flu policy

Registered nurses at the Cypress Fairbanks Medical Center will speak out against the hospital’s flu policy at a conference at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, claiming they are forced to work while sick.

The nurses, members of the National Nurses Organizing Committee-Texas/National Nurses United, will also file a complaint on Wednesday against the hospital with the National Labor Relations Board
The nurses complain they are threatened with termination if they stay home while sick, and are forced to come to work and expose their patients to their illness, according to a statement.

As a proposed solution, the nurses are asking the hospital to suspend their sick policy during flu season.

There are 307 Registered Nurses on staff at Cypress Fairbanks Medical Center’s two facilities.
The nurses are currently in negotiations over the sick policy with the hospital, which is owned by Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare Corp.

CF-ISD names police chief

Cypress-Fairbanks ISD named Alan Bragg its first chief of police during the regularly scheduled Board meeting on Monday, Dec. 12.

Bragg comes to CFISD from Spring ISD, where he served 21 years as the chief of police after implementing the full-service, 24-hour department in 1990.

"We're delighted to welcome Chief Bragg to the Cy-Fair family," said Dr. Mark Henry, superintendent of schools. "His wealth of experience in public education law enforcement-especially the first-hand knowledge of forming a department from the ground up-will be invaluable in building a CFISD Police Department."

His experience includes serving as a lieutenant for the Houston ISD police department from 1981-1990; a police officer for Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls, Texas, from 1978-1981; and a police officer for the City of Wichita Falls from 1972-1978.

Bragg studied criminal justice at Midwestern State. He is a graduate of the Wichita Falls Police Academy, the FBI National Academy and the FBI Law Enforcement Executive Development Series (LEEDS). He is licensed as a Master Peace Officer through the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education (TCLEOSE), a state agency created by the 59th Texas Legislature.

Offices held in professional organizations include past president of the Houston Area Police Chiefs Association, and he currently is serving as vice president of the Texas School District Police Chiefs Association.
"I am honored to serve as chief of police for the new department in Cy-Fair ISD," Bragg said. "I look forward to assuming this important leadership role and creating a model law enforcement agency within the district."