At least 100 nurses at a Massachusetts hospital walked off the job on Monday after failing to reach an agreement with management over staffing levels, a hospital spokeswoman said.
Crowds of healthcare workers congregated outside St. Vincent Hospital in Worcester holding signs that said, “Safe Staffing Now” and “Shame on Tenet CEO Carolyn Jackson.”
The strike began after negotiations between Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare, which owns the hospital, and the Massachusetts Nursing Association, which represents the nurses, broke down.
Rhiana Sherwood, a spokeswoman for St. Vincent, told the Washington Examiner the facility employs around 800 nurses, though fewer than that number “crossed the line” for the strike Monday. She said a headcount of striking nurses will be reported in the coming days.
Sherwood also said all nurses who walked off the job were accounted for by backup nurses, adding that no operations or surgeries had been canceled on account of the walkouts.
Starting today, 800 nurses at St. Vincent Hospital are on strike after they say negotiations failed over safe staffing levels. Tenet Health, a Dallas-based company that owns the hospital, posted record profits in 2019. Tenet claims staffing levels are comparable to peer hospitals pic.twitter.com/PJwIkuTTvy
— Kelly Sullivan (@ksullivannews) March 8, 2021
“We are sad to see that Tenet holds so little value for our patients, yet we are resolved to do whatever it takes for as long as it takes to protect our patients, as it is safer to strike now than allow Tenet to continue endangering our patients every day on every shift,” nurse Marlena Pellegrino, co-chairwoman of the local bargaining unit of the Massachusetts Nursing Association, said in a statement.
COVID ICU NURSE AMONG THE MAJORITY OF FELLOW STAFF WHO HAVE ENDURED THE DISEASE
Some healthcare workers participating in the strike said they are required to care for five patients at a time, while other hospitals have a limit of four patients per nurse.
The MNA contends the patient requirement is strenuous and difficult during a time when workers have to adhere to COVID-19 precautions and requirements.
“In the last year alone, nurses have filed more than 600 official ‘unsafe staffing’ reports (more than 110 such reports have been filed since Jan. 1, 2021) in which nurses informed management in real time that patient care conditions jeopardized the safety of their patients,” the group penned in its statement.
State Rep. Jim McGovern voiced support for the MNA on Monday, tweeting, “I stand in solidarity with St. Vincent @MassNurses in their fight for patient safety and fairness. Tenet Healthcare needs to listen to and act on their concerns.”
I stand in solidarity with St. Vincent @MassNurses in their fight for patient safety and fairness. Tenet Healthcare needs to listen to and act on their concerns. https://t.co/uQHbX0d0Za
— Rep. Jim McGovern (@RepMcGovern) March 8, 2021
Negotiations between the MNA and the hospital have reportedly been going on for nearly 18 months, and a recent contract proposal included a measure for a “substantial” pay increase for nurses at the facility, Sherwood told the Washington Examiner.
“While we still remain hopeful that we can reach an agreement with the MNA for a new contract that is fair and beneficial to both parties, we won’t let anything distract us from our primary mission of doing what is best for our patients,” St. Vincent CEO Carolyn Jackson said in a statement to the Washington Examiner.
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The Washington Examiner reached out to the MNA and Tenet Healthcare but did not immediately receive a response.
