NYC faces ‘enormous public health calamity’ as nurses at Mount Sinai hospitals plan strike

New York City faces an “enormous public health calamity” as nurses at Mount Sinai hospitals plan walkouts in which critically ill babies could be moved elsewhere and ambulances turned away.

Seven private hospitals (Montefiore, Mount Sinai Hospital, Mount Sinai Morningside and West, Maimonides, BronxCare, Richmond University Medical Center, and Flushing Hospital Medical Center) are on notice of a possible strike beginning January 9 if new agreements are not met. contractual. .

With the clock ticking, the looming strike could put already overcrowded hospitals, already in the midst of a ‘tridemic’ (COVID-19, flu and RSV), into full-blown crisis mode that could have a severe impact on patient care.

As nurses demand safe staff, fair wages, no cuts to their benefits, better health and safety precautions, and community benefits.

Mount Sinai Health Systems described in a memo that they are canceling elective surgeries and discharging patients who have medical clearance. They will also divert most ambulances from four of their facilities and transfer sick babies in the neonatal unit to a different facility if the strike occurs.

said New York State Nurses Association President Nancy Hagans. ”Nurses feel neglected and disrespected by their bosses,” she said. “We held the hands of dying patients, we set up last FaceTime calls so dying patients could say goodbye to their loved ones.”

On Thursday, the union announced that a tentative agreement had been reached with Maimonides and Richmond, but negotiations with five other hospitals are still pending.

A total of 10,000 nurses have notified that they will go on strike on Monday in the remaining hospitals if contractual agreements are not reached. According to NYSNA, all contracts have different language regarding their care practices, wages, and staffing.

On Thursday, the New York State Nurses Association issued a joint statement with Maimonides about the tentative agreement reached for the 1,300 nurses on staff.

“We are pleased to reach a tentative agreement that recognizes the essential contributions of our indispensable nursing staff,” the statement read.

‘We believe this settlement is fair and respects the needs of all parties while helping us to better serve our patients. We look forward to continuing our productive relationship in order to meet the needs of our patients, community and staff here at Maimonides’.

A memo that was sent to the hospital management staff and obtained by news 4 He said Mount Sinai Health System noted that most, but not all, of the issues in the ongoing negotiations have been resolved, and time is of the essence.

“In order to do what is best for our patients, we have no choice but to continue with our strike planning,” said the memo outlining the steps that would be taken.

This included the diversion of ambulances from Mount Sinai Hospital, Mount Sinai West, Mount Sinai Morningside, and Mount Sinai Beth Israel.

Cancellation of any elective surgery and scheduling only emergency surgeries at the main and Morningside facilities are also on the cards.

In addition to discharging ‘as many patients as appropriate’ and changing services: hospital care at the main and west facilities, and ER and child psychiatry at the Morningside campus.

A Mount Sinai source told the news outlet that there were more than 50 babies in the NICU at the facility, that number was slightly below the maximum capacity of 64, as of Thursday morning.

The New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) has up to 12,000 members threatened with strike action at seven hospitals where their contracts expired on December 31, 2022.

Ten days ago, the union notified management of its strike. The union said members are upset about staffing ratios at local hospitals, contract proposals that they feel dramatically worsen their own health care benefits.

Nurses were also angered by Mayor Eric Adams’ recent move to forcibly hospitalize psychiatric patients, New York 4 New previously reported.

‘Instead of working with us for a fair contract that attracts and keeps nurses at the bedside, our bosses have been fighting us, engaging in unfair and illegal behaviour, trying to silence our voices on staff safety and interfering with our union rights. ‘ according to a statement from NYSNA.

Ken Raske of the Greater New York Hospital Association previously told NBC New York that if the strike occurs “it could be a huge public health calamity.”

A Mount Sinai’s spokesman said in a statement Monday that its bargaining teams “continue to make good faith efforts to achieve a contract with NYSNA that is fair to our community and responsible for the long-term financial health of our organization.” .

Mount Sinai nurses deserve the best possible work environment, wages and benefits, and we tirelessly pursue them for the benefit of all our employees.’

The statement added that the hospital system is “prepared for personnel changes, and we will do everything possible to ensure that the care of our patients is not interrupted and we will do everything possible to minimize discomfort to patients.”

The median salary for nurses in New York is $93,000 and $98,000 in New York City, the nurses union and GNYHA confirmed. However, there is a wide disparity between the pay of nurses in private and public hospitals, where salaries are nearly $20,000 less.

In 2020, in total compensation, NY-Presbyterian paid $68,604,386 to its top employees, including $11,928,405 to its CEO; and Montefiore Health System paid $27,975,832 to top earners, including $7,422,610 to its chief executive officer, according to a NYSNA statement.

“Two-thirds of registered nurses nationwide say they plan to leave the profession in the next two years, with staffing shortages leaving caregivers exhausted and at their breaking point,” the statement said.

‘Nurses say hospitals aren’t doing enough to keep them at their bedside, from safe staffing ratios to competitive pay.

“Nurses have detailed how chronically understaffed hospitals are unsafe for patients and nurses. Patients suffer and experience worse health outcomes when nursing care is rushed or delayed due to understaffing. They are urging hospitals to maintain safe staffing standards at all hospitals as a matter of health equity and quality care for all.’