Four former employees at the Kentucky River Medical Center reached an out-of-court agreement with the hospital and their union, during the first day of hearings on Tuesday at the Breathitt County Courthouse.

For Frances Lynn Combs, Louise Gross, Shirley White and James Fields, that means an agreement with KRMC in getting lost wages, lost benefits, and travel expenses to their out-of-town jobs.

“We were able to reach that settlement agreement around 5 o’clock Tuesday. Each involved got a settlement that the union, the hospital and the board found acceptable,” said Randy Pidcock, who’s a representative of the United Steelworkers Union (USW) in Frankfort. “The four involved retained the right to employment with the hospital at a later date.”

The hearings were held by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) at the courthouse this week, after charges were made by the four former employees, allegeding they were terminated or suspended because they were involved with the USW. Authorities determined there was sufficent evidence to issue a complaint against KRMC, allegeding the charges had violated the National Labor Relations Act.

In a statement to the Voice, current hospital Administrator Donnie Rentfro said via telephone on Tuesday, “The issue is a personnel matter, and we are unable to provide any information regarding these employees.”

Combs, Gross and White were members of the union’s bargaining committee since April of last year. “We were all let go because the hospital didn’t want a union,” Combs said early Tuesday outside the Courthouse, before the hearing took place. While Combs - a nurse with 37 years experience in her career - was suspended, both White and Gross were terminated. Both had worked 13 years each as Intensive Care Unit nurses at the hospital. Fields was not at the hearing due to being recently hospitalized.

Also involved were witnesses who were called to the hearing, as well as former hospital Administrator David Bevins. Bevins was in charge of KRMC until October of last year, and is now Director of Special Projects in Kentucky for the Jackson hospital’s parent company, Community Health Systems, Inc. In addition to Bevins, KRMC’s attorney, Don Carmody was in attendance. The hearing was conducted by NLRB Administrative Law Judge Paul Buxbaum.

The current hearing can be traced back to 1998, when the United Steelworkers Union began working on trying to get a contract with the hospital. That same year, the USW was voted in as the union representing some workers at KRMC. In July 2000, union members and the hospital were involved in a strike.

Tuesday’s settlement was the first of more hearings that were expected to continue through Thursday. Pidcock noted it was the latest in what he called “years of litigation”, adding that decisions from a previous Administrative Law Judge on previous cases would be looked at. “In the long run, we’d like to see the workers just treated fairly, with decent wages and a contract.”