Lee Health fires then rehires its essential employees who did not work during Irma

Patricia Ney was a nurse. 

The 56-year-old worked in the obstetrics department at Cape Coral Hospital for more than three years.

In total, her career spanned more than three decades. 

Until last week. 

She was informed she was fired by Lee Health because as an essential employee she was gone during and after Irma's collision with Southwest Florida. Lee Health is the largest employer in Lee County and controls about 96 percent of the beds, leaving employees to wonder where they can find work if they are fired. Ney was going to begin looking for work, but a supervisor called her on Thursday to offer her job back.

That's because the hospital system is scrambling to rehire the employees it decided to release from duty after they failed to show for Irma and its aftermath.

Among them is Ney. 

"They did the right thing," Ney said. 

It is unclear how many employees were fired because the hospital was still accumulating numbers of how many were released from duty, said hospital system spokeswoman Mary Briggs. 

More:Thousands flock to 'one-stop" recovery center for Fort Myers area residents hurt by Irma

The hospital system's emergency preparedness plan in case of hurricanes is called "Code Brown." During hurricanes, essential employees are grouped into two groups -- A and B. Group A staffs the hospital during the storm and Group B takes over after to relieve the first staff workers.

Ney was part of Group A, but the day after Labor Day she went to Pennsylvania on a previously planned trip. At the time, Irma was forecasted to hit the east coast of Florida, but the cyclone surprised all by going west instead. 

Under the previous guidelines for Code Brown situations, employees who did not go to work were placed under corrective actions and in some circumstances fired. 

But because Irma was so remarkably unpredictable and affected large swaths of the state, Briggs said the guidelines will be tweaked allowing those employees to return to work. 

"We have leaders that were doing what they thought they were supposed to do," Briggs said. "Many of those employees will be reinstated."

More:At rest no more: What Hurricane Irma did to the historic Buckingham Cemetery

"We have to be flexible and allow additional leniency for our employees because of the general circumstances," Briggs added.

Briggs said it's important to have the hospital staffed during emergencies. The hospitals offer employees the opportunity to shelter in their facility and bring their families and pets, she said.

Employees who contacted their supervisors and communicated they couldn't be at work will be rehired, she said. But those who did not will continue through with their corrective plans.

"That's why the policies are set the way they are, but we also recognize the storm was different and you have the governor telling everyone to get out," Briggs said. 

While the hospital system has not provided a number for affected employees, a local attorney said he has heard from at least half a dozen. He plans to represent some of them. 

More:Hurricane Irma: Five dead at Hollywood nursing home that lost power during storm

"Some of them (nurses) are still in limbo," said James Brantley, a labor and employment attorney with the Law Firm of Donnelly and Gross. "The hospital is taking their time with these decisions."

Ney said management was unaware she planned a trip during her off-time prior to Irma's arrival. While she was away the hospital system initiated a Code Brown.

Ney purchased a return ticket to Fort Myers for the Monday after the storm, but the flight was canceled. 

"There were no flights anywhere coming to Fort Myers," Ney said. We decided just to get in the car and go." 

But by then Ney and her husband were stuck in the returning traffic of evacuees who had fled the storm via the state's highways. 

Hurricane Irma: Traffic delays along Florida Turnpike, none on I-75 in Southwest Florida

"Traffic was bad," she said. "Gas was hard to find. There were no hotels."

Brantley called this a "very unique" situation where "the hospital, I'm being told, is telling people you shouldn't have evacuated."

"It's a very cold-hearted approach," Brantley said. "It's an authoritarian dictatorship. They feel they can do whatever they want to do. When you are the only game in town you wield a lot of power in regard to employment."

Brantley questioned whether it was possible for so many people to be fired without leadership knowing what was going on. 

"In the wake of a storm like this, why was the first thing on the agenda when returning from a storm to fire people," Brantley said. "I think it's pretty embarrassing and I think they are backtracking now."

More:Hurricane Irma: Five dead at Hollywood nursing home that lost power during storm

Jason Bent, a professor at the Stetson University College of Law, said employees in Florida have few protections from their employers. 

"If they are not unionized and they don’t have a contract that protects them individually they can be fired for any reason and they have no protection in Florida," Bent said.

Terrence Connor, a professor at the School of Law at the University of Miami, said the hospital might have a public relations issue, but they were well within their right to fire their employees.

"By and large you start from the proposition that employees are at will so they can be fired or they can leave whenever they choose," Connor said. "Right now from all reports there's kind of a shortage of nurses, but there are a lot of people to sympathize with this last week. and the people running the hospital and delivering healthcare is one and the nurses that are stuck by downed trees and downed planes is one."

"It’s a tough situation for all sides."

LEE HEALTH STATEMENT

During a hurricane, the care and safety of patients is our first priority. It is essential we have enough staff to care for our patients during a hurricane and that we have a second team ready to come in to relieve staff after the storm. A shortage of staff during a hurricane emergency could jeopardize the safety of patients and other employees. 

Lee Health makes accommodations for employees to billet at a hospital campus before and after a hurricane and they are allowed to bring immediate family and their pets.

Essential staff is placed on Team A or Team B at the beginning of each hurricane season and they are expected to report for their shifts based on when their team is called in. These policies and procedures are communicated to employees along with the ramifications of non-compliance, which includes a corrective action plan that could result in termination.  

Given the statewide catastrophic nature of Hurricane Irma and recognizing its impact is well beyond anything previously experienced, Lee Health has modified its hurricane response policy to provide leniency to employees who did not report in for a scheduled shift.

After Hurricane Irma passed, some Lee Health leaders followed the established policy in place prior to the storm and placed employees who did not report in as scheduled into corrective action, including in some cases termination. Because the modified policy is lenient toward employees who notified Lee Health that they would not be reporting to work for reasons related to Hurricane Irma, those individuals will be returned to their position. Employees who abandoned their position without notice will continue through the corrective action process.

We do not approach this situation lightly. Decisions are made based on what is the right thing to do for our patients, employees system wide and the community as a whole. Individual circumstances are being reviewed as needed to assure fair treatment for each employee.  

We cannot forget though the efforts and sacrifices of our employees who reported for duty. On behalf of Lee Health, our patients and our community, we express sincere appreciation and respect for their commitment and dedication to our mission.