The President and CEO of Albany Medical Center Hospital is alleging the New York State Nurses Association hired a truck to intimidate his 10-year-old son.
In a video released Friday, Dr. Dennis McKenna says a truck recently passed by his son’s bus stop on multiple occasions and followed his son’s school bus.
“Several children got home those days and told their parents about the truck following them to school," said McKenna. "I know a parent who called the company of the truck and they told her, that, yes, they were hired by NYSNA to follow my son’s bus to school. NYSNA…do you have no shame?”
The union is involved in a bitter contract dispute with the hospital that included a 24-hour strike this week.
NYSNA responded to a WAMC request for comment via a statement attributed to the organization’s Executive Director Pat Kane.
Kane called McKenna’s allegations “beyond absurd” and “insulting” but confirmed the union had hired a truck.
Kane said the truck was hired “to drive around the Capital District to let the public know that Albany Medical Center refuses to protect our nurses, their children and their families from COVID with proper protective equipment, refuses to discuss providing affordable health coverage for their families, and refuses to take measures to stop hundreds of nurses from quitting because the conditions are so bad.”
The union's entire statement is posted below:
“Let me be clear: the New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) would never follow, harass or intimidate families or children, period - those accusations are beyond absurd. We spend our lives caring for the community, and it’s insulting that Dr. McKenna would even say that.
NYSNA did hire a truck to drive around the Capital District to let the public know that Albany Medical Center refuses to protect our nurses, their children and their families from COVID with proper protective equipment, refuses to discuss providing affordable health coverage for their families, and refuses to take measures to stop hundreds of nurses from quitting because the conditions are so bad.
Nurses are in this fight to protect their patients, their families and all the children of this community. The nurses are truly worried about bringing this infection home to their children and spreading it to families in this community every day. We are raising the red flag because Albany Med is not following the proper protocols to protect patients and nurses, and that’s why we were forced to file complaints with the federal government.
These frontline heroes are being treated as expendable by Albany Med - it’s not right and it’s not fair.
Dr. McKenna should stop making up issues, stop deflecting and start fixing the fact that his hospital is not following proper protocols and putting people at risk.”
