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10 N A T I O N A L N U R S E W W W . N A T I O N A L N U R S E S U N I T E D . O R G M AY | J U N E 2 0 1 8 WRAP-UP REPORT California ENLOE REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER registered nurses at Enloe Regional Medical Center in Chico unanimously approved in June a new three-year contract, which RNs say will improve patient care conditions, ensure the community has access to highly educated, experienced nurses, and better protect nurses against workplace violence. The contract will cover 960 Enloe nurses. "We've been bargaining since November, and we are so proud that our nurses stood together to win this agreement," said Pamela Stowe, RN. "We know that when nurses have safe work conditions, our patients are better protected, and this contract will help us deliver the kind of qual- ity care the community deserves." SHASTA REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER registered nurses at Shasta Regional Medical Center (SRMC) in Redding, won in May a first contract which adds new patient care protections and allows nurses more power to advocate for patient safety. "We are so pleased to have reached an agreement that addresses the critical staffing issues and workplace safety issues," said RN Trish Weaver, a member of the negotiating team. "This contract will be a huge benefit for patients and our community." Nurses say the three-year agreement goes a long way to address the issues of recruitment and retention of experienced nurses at SRMC. "It's a great feeling being able to stand up for our patients and for ourselves; I am thankful that I was able to take part in these negotiations," said RN Michelle Gaffney, negotiating team member and progressive care unit nurse. Maine registered nurses on June 4 applauded the announcement by Calais Regional Hospital's (CRH) CEO Rod Boula that Quorum Health Resources will no longer provide management services to CRH. Maine State Nurses Association nurses say the announce- ment is a big victory for CRH employees and the community, who have fought for years to rid CRH of the Tennessee-based management company that has a history of reducing services in order to increase profits. Public documents show that CRH had paid nearly $1 million per year to Quorum to manage the facility, and RNs and communi- ty members had long been saying the fee to Quorum should have been spent locally, on patients who deserve access to full services. "Today's news shows that what we have been saying all along is true: Quorum takes more from our hospital and our community than it gives. It is long past time that we got rid of Quorum," said Maureen Hayward, RN and MSNA Chief Steward at CRH. "We wish this had happened a long ago, but better late than never." Calls for changes in CRH's relationship to Quorum have grown louder over the past year, since the hospital announced its plans to close its obstetrics unit. In response, the Calais City Council unanimously passed a vote of "no confidence" in the hospital's board of directors and called on them to resign. Since last summer, CRH has also closed its cardiac rehab department and also the "Rose Room," an outpatient infusion center serving chemotherapy patients and others. "We have a long way to go to rebuild our hospital's relationship to our community. But this is a good first step," said Hayward. —Staff report NEWS BRIEFS From top: RNs at Enloe Regional Medical Center celebrate a new contract; nurses at Shasta Regional Medical Center are excited to have a first-ever union contract after they organized last September.