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The financial picture for the NCH Healthcare System is far from bleak, despite what hospital executives portrayed to employees a few months ago, according to SEIU Florida Healthcare, the union aiming to represent NCH registered nurses.

The union is circulating a new flier headlined, “Priorities at NCH: The $110 Million Question,” and states NCH’s two hospitals made $110 million collectively in profits from 2003 through 2006. The hospitals’ profit margin ranged from 4.7 percent to as much as 9.8 percent in 2005, which was double the national average in 2005, according to the flier.

The financial figures were derived from 990’s, the form that all nonprofit groups must furnish annually to the IRS. The union examined the documents for Naples Community Hospital Inc. and not the 990s for the broader NCH Healthcare System, which includes outpatient programs.

Registered nurses at NCH who support the union are angered that hospital executives spoke earlier in the year about losses and how cutbacks were necessary.

“They have the nerve to say we must tighten our belts and we may lose jobs,” said Ann Anderson, a registered nurse in the emergency room at North Naples Hospital. “It’s a complete lack of respect.”

The flier also states that compensation for the chief executive officer went up 248 percent from 2003 through 2006. At the same time, the share of NCH’s budget for staff pay and benefits went down from 2005 to 2006.

“Many of us believe that NCH could do more to staff units and recruit and retain nurses,” the flier states. “Imagine what we can achieve when we unite and gain more say on how the hospital allocates resources.”

A union election may take place in December. At present all parties are waiting for a decision from the National Labor Relations Board in Tampa about the pool of registered nurse who would be eligible to vote.

Mary Beth Karish, a registered nurse in the recovery room at North Naples, said she was surprised by NCH’s profit margin and overall financial picture, given that she and other employees were told the situation was bad this past spring with a $10 million deficit.

She and other nurses in her unit planned to rotate working night shifts voluntarily to compensate for being short of staff. That plan was dropped when they learned of 19 percent bonuses awarded to senior management this past summer, she said.

“I can’t believe it, I can’t believe they have that much of a profit,” she said. “We just feel like we were deceived. The least they could have done is not to say we were in the hole.”

Dr. Allen Weiss, president and chief executive officer of NCH, said the union isn’t telling the full picture by the selective numbers reported on the flier.

“I don’t dispute them (the financials) per se but our profit margin is reasonable for a not-for-profit,” he said. “The bottom line is since I’ve been (in charge) in 2006 we went from 15 executives to eight. Executive compensation decreased from $5.7 million to $2.3 million, a savings of $3.4 million.”

Weiss said NCH was facing a $10-million deficit earlier in the year so there was no deception.

“For a while that is where the numbers were going and at the end of the year, when all is said and done, we will break even,” he said.

As promised by the NCH board of trustees, registered nurses earlier this month received 10 percent raises and all other employees received 8 percent raises.

“Next week we are distributing 3 percent bonuses for all employees,” he said, referring to a previously announced discretionary bonus approved by the board.

The bonus will cost about $5 million for the hospital system’s nearly 4,000 employees.

“We are rewarding our staff as a clear priority,” Weiss said, adding that the SEIU flier doesn’t refer to the number of senior executives being reduced for a savings of $3.4 million. “That is the rest of the story and SEIU is ignoring this and we did that in anticipation of tough economic times.”

Likewise, the union fails to mention that 1.5 percent of salaries of union members would go out of town, he said.