National Nurses United

WRAP-UP REPORT California HAYWARD nurses at st. rose hospital in Hayward held a protest in February to protest the facility's plans to close its Family Birthing Center (FBC). RNs say labor and delivery/post-partum unit closure would hurt families and create a safety crisis for expecting patients and babies. This announcement directly contradicted claims by Alameda Health System during public hearings that it would protect all services in its acquisition of St. Rose in November 2024. Nurses say the closure will harm expecting patients and their babies, and that the community remains largely unaware of this critical loss of labor and delivery services. "The emergency depart- ment cannot become an ad-hoc labor and delivery unit," said Shekeba Sharifi, an RN at St. Rose in the birthing center. "This planned closure adds more stress to a deeply challenging situation." HOLLISTER in february, nurses at Hazel Hawkins Memorial Hospital in Hollister outlined their demands for a lease-to-purchase con- tract with Insight Health, a private buyer of the facility, at the San Benito Health Care District meeting. The nurses, members of California Nurses Association, remain highly skeptical of Insight's ability to run Hazel Hawkins in a financially responsible manner that makes San Benito County's health and well-being a priority. Insight's own tax forms show that since taking over a Chicago hospital in 2021, Insight Chicago lost $57.9 million in the first three years, even as Insight Management took in more than $29.4 million in fees from the fiscally struggling hospital. The nurses are demanding that manage- ment fees must not exceed 6 percent of net patient revenue; any profits (net revenue) made during the five-year lease period shall be reinvested into the Hospital. Additional demands include creating a Community Advisory Board, administering a Financial Assistance Program, and main- taining a charity care program at an average of 1 percent of operating revenue. SALINAS registered nurses at Salinas Valley Health Medical Center in Salinas voted over- whelmingly in favor of ratifying a new four-year contract in December. The new agreement includes key gains to ensure reten- tion and recruitment of nurses and enhance patient care and nursing practice. Contract highlights include new provisions for health and safety, prevention of workplace violence, enhanced floating and cancellations protec- tions, and dedicated break relief protections to ensure compliance with S.B. 1334, with penalty pay for violations. Nurses also won strengthened A.I. and technology protections for nursing judge- ment and expertise and a precedent-setting 20 percent across-the-board pay increase over the life of the contract. "Thanks to the solidarity and collective strength of our frontline RNs, we were able to win a strong contract that not only sets the standard for our facility, but also for other union and non-union hospitals across the Central Coast," said Tracy Chavez, an RN in the intensive care unit and a CNA nurse negotiator. Maryland registered nurses at Ascension Saint Agnes Hospital, in Baltimore, held a rally in March to highlight their patient safety con- cerns, including hospital-wide short-staffing, unnecessarily long wait times in the ER, and lack of pediatrics-trained nurses. Ascension's chronic short-staffing has resulted in the high turnover of nurses, RNs missing breaks, no nurses to staff the operating room for emer- gency overnight cases, and a lack of nurses with sufficient pediatric training to care for young patients. The RNs are bargaining for their first contract. "To increase their profit margins, Ascension refuses to consistently staff nurses overnight in the operating room, opting to rely exclusively on the on-call nurses," said Carolyn Turner, RN in the OR. North Carolina in march, registered nurses at Mission Hospital in Asheville held a rally to high- light patient safety concerns and expose the life-threatening conditions patients face due to extreme short-staffing. Nurses noted that a patient recently died in the emer- gency room during a shift when nurses say the unit was down at least six nurses at the start of the shift. Nurses are documenting and reporting unsafe conditions to hospital administrators daily. Despite ongoing reports of unsafe staffing, Mission Hospital is currently seek- ing redesignation for Magnet status, a designation meant to recognize excellence in nursing. Nurses argue that a hospital with 10 immediate jeopardy situations in a single year, the most severe federal safety viola- tions, should be denied redesignation for Magnet recognition. —Staff report Clockwise from top left: Hayward, Calif. nurses protest closure of birthing unit; Baltimore RNs rally for patient safety and staffing concerns; Asheville, N.C. nurses also protest extreme short-staffing and unsafe conditions. J A N U A R Y | F E B R U A R Y | M A R C H 2 0 2 5 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 N A T I O N A L N U R S E 15

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