medical students from stanford and nurses from the california nurses association were on hand as mentors. >> we were able to help provide free chiropractic appointments, have people get some free health screenings, blood pressure and the like. bmi screenings, as well as some eye care. looking at their eye care and hearing. >> those in attendance were educated on single pair and universal health care systems. >>> the state parks foundation and pg&e teamed up today in honor of earth day. this is the tenth anniversary of the parks' foundation's partnership with pg&e. the energy company funds the cleanup projects, supplies most of the manpower. >>> a severe storm system is slamming much of the southeast tonight. the same storm that is blamed for 17 death as cross the south. brian mooar has the latest on the destruction. >> reporter: alabama's governor got a firsthand look at the devastation in the tiny community of boone's chapel, that's where a father and two adult children lost their lives in a home that was no shelter from a devastate iing storm. >> rolled off, down the hill. it was bad.

. >> i am a direct care registered nurse as well as president of the california nurses association. thank you, supervisors for convening this important hearing. we believe is important to know there is a cost like the previous speaker has mentioned between northern and southern california. various factors might play a role in the disparity. we believe the the market dominance does play a bigger role. secondly, the assertion that labor costs are largely responsible for the higher cost of health care are quite frankly preposterous. the only grain of truth to that assertion can be found in the salaries. as an example, and the ceo is now the highest paid and ceo of the sacramento valley. that is because after a wage increase of 43%, there are over two dozen corporate officials just in the sacramento area that earned over a million dollars apiece. here in san francisco, the wage increases for officials have surged dramatically in the past several years. the latest available data shows that the corporate salaries jumped from anywhere from 40% to 50% a year. i want to make it very clear th

plan by california pacific medical center is the subject of ongoing litigation with the california nurses association and the national labor relations board. in other recent litigation this month, the state insurance commissioner david jones intervened in a lawsuit that charges sutter with false billing charges in every facility in the bay area. commissioner jones stated the fraudulent charges are in the hundreds of millions of dollars, if not more, and that sutter's fraud targets the insurance industry, but ultimately, the burden falls on the shorter it -- shoulders of taxpayers to pay a premium for coverage. there are many layers of casualties as a result of this business model, from the patients whose needs are not met because of cuts services for not being profitable enough, to the patient to simply do not have access because they live in a community where the payer is not what sutter wants. and to all taxpayers to bear the burden of their nonprofit status and divesting of services on to the public safety net. in the emergency room, we are trained to keep a close watch or exercise restraint on pa

medical students from stanford and nurses from the california nurses' association were on happened happened -- hand as mentors. >> we were able to provide free chiropractic appointments, get free plood screenings, blood pressure and the like, bmi screenings as well as some eye care looking at eye care and hearing. >> those in attendance were also educated on single payor and universal health care systems. >>> the state parks foundation and pg&e teamed up for a massive cleanup operation in honor of earth day. thousands of volunteers came out to 18 parks around the state to plant trees, remove graffiti, pick up trash, restore trails, and a whole lot more. and a lot of little folks there too. this is the tenth anniversary of the park's foundation partnership with pg&e. the energy company funds the cleanup projects and the foundation which is a nonprofit supplies much of the man power. >>> and, rob, i must say what a perfect day for earth day. people being outside, it was gorgeous out there. >> yeah. it's nice when we can finally get some 70-degree temperatures around the bay area which we did

profiles throughout the book roseanne figures prominently throw the book to help build up the california nurses association and build relationships with the state nurses organizations here in d.c. and roseanne is very outspoken in recent weeks with a one strategy the labor movement should adopt with the relentless demands for a confession and we have a difference of opinion between those who will breathe a sigh of relief that we retain bargaining rights but willing to give away the store to do that. but there is serious problems with this strategy of endless confession bargaining it did not end up in a good place of the private sector when that was seen as a survival strategy in the '80s with the meatpacking and so on down the line. it is good to see a woman and union leader challenge the conventional wisdom expressed in the op-ed piece the other day that what we need to offer is shared sacrifice. i know it is not offering to share the sacrifices from other members, not offering to have the two year pay freeze or to start paying more for his pension or for his health care so he should be more cautious as p

nurse with st. luke's hospital, and the senior vice president for health policy of the california hospital association, and dr. glenn melnick. maybe if you could come up to the table, and then, the need to speak, you can come up, but thank you very much. >> thank you. good morning. i am the senior adviser at the pacific business group on health, and i'm here to talk about the effects of market consolidation on hospital costs and quality in the city and region and around us. first, a quick word about who we are. we are located in san francisco. we have been around for 20-plus years. we are a coalition of large employers that is trying to improve the quality of health care and women help care cost increases. we are in the same quandary that you are, and i certainly do not then be your task. our members spend $12 billion a year providing health coverage for about 3 million individuals. they are purchasers of health care just like you are. mr. chairman, use of me on this slide, but here it is in pictorial form. we have all paid close attention to the article that came out in open " l.a. times" last month,