WORCESTER – St. Vincent Hospital and the Massachusetts Nurses Association [MNA] both released statements over the weekend, as 800 nurse at the hospital plan to strike starting at 6 AM on Monday, March 8.
The MNA released a statement on Sunday, March 7, focused on Dallas based Tenet Healthcare, which operates St. Vincent Hospital.
Citing its 49-day strike against the company in 2000, MNA claims that 600 official “unsafe staffing” reports by nurses in 2020 illustrate the danger of the staffing levels employed by St. Vincent Hospital. It also criticized the hospital for offering to increase staffing levels on two of 12 units .
MNA also compared St. Vincent’s profit margin, which it was is five times higher than at UMass Memorial Medical Center, while UMass employs higher staffing levels.
St. Vincent Hospital’s statement released on Sunday claims the offer made to nurses earlier in the week included the highest wage increases in 10 years and benefit improvements of up to $4,600 for part time nurses. The hospital also says its staffing levels are comparable or better than peer hospitals.
St. Vincent’s statement also warned that it may revise its offer to nurses because of the economic impact of the strike.
Tenet Healthcare says it paid $5.4 million last week for replacement nurses in preparation of the strike.
Lead image courtesy: John Phelan, Saint Vincent Hospital, Worcester MA, CC BY-SA 3.0
