Nearly 800 nurses at Langhorne’s St. Mary Medical Center are going on strike today and tomorrow in an effort to get owner Trinity Health Systems to agree to safe minimal staffing levels. As coronavirus cases surge once again in the commonwealth, they want to ensure that the hospital is safely staffed, for both patient and nurse safety. The nurses said Trinity and its corporate leadership have refused to listen thus far, and they feel the only way to make their voices heard is to strike.
According to the nurses, patients are waiting hours in the emergency room because there’s not enough staff to take care of them on the floors. On some units, they said schedules are posted with half the nurses needed for some shifts.
“Safe staffing is the main issue in our negotiation – it’s why we organized last year in the first place,” said Kathy McKamey, RN, who works on St. Mary’s MG2 unit and has been at the hospital for 10 years. “Trinity has refused to commit to the minimal safe staffing guidelines every study out there has said improves patient outcomes. But the truth is, even if they had, we don’t have the staff to fill them because our wage scale is so far below that of area hospitals. Nurses are literally fleeing to other hospitals 20 minutes away where they can make $6 or $7 more an hour. My unit alone has lost 20 nurses since January; the perioperative areas have lost 35 nurses in the last year. The grids are meaningless if you can’t find nurses to fill the spots.”
The nurses are walking off the job today and tomorrow to highlight the shortage of nursing staff. Face coverings/masks are required, and safe social distancing will be maintained. Speeches are slated to begin at noon each day.
“Nobody walked away from what we needed to do [during the first COVID surge], and we won’t walk away now,” said Maureen May, RN, president of the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals. “But we will send a message, via a strike, that you have to do the right thing. This is our message – to the hospitals, to the public – that we’ve had enough.”
“We aren’t abandoning our community during a pandemic,” added Lynn McCarthy, RN. “We are walking out to protect them.”
Headquartered in Livonia, Michigan, Trinity is one of the country’s largest nationwide healthcare organizations, encompassing more than 90 hospitals and behavioral health facilities. St. Mary is one of Trinity’s most profitable hospitals. Nurses at St. Mary have been bargaining for a first contract for more than a year.
Hospital officials released the following statement:
“At St. Mary Medical Center, our mission is to serve our community as a provider of compassionate, transformative and high-quality care. Despite the many challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic and the related financial impact the pandemic has had on St. Mary and other hospitals around the country, we remain fully committed to negotiating in good faith and in the spirit of obtaining a fair, consistent and sustainable agreement with our nurses and PASNAP as we work toward a first-time contract.
“We fully recognize our nurses’ rights and respect their voices during these ongoing negotiations, and it is unfortunate and surprising that the nurses of St. Mary chose to engage in a work stoppage rather than continue the significant progress we have made.
“Despite this action, there will be work available for all nurses who choose to come to work regardless of a call to strike. Our highly skilled and dedicated team of colleagues, along with the contribution of additional qualified professional resources, will allow us to continue our healing ministry. We remain focused on our mission of providing extraordinary, compassionate care for the patients and families we are privileged to serve. Our message to our community is that we are here for you and prepared to care for you safely.”
