Heading into the weekend without a new contract in place, unionized nurses at Albany Medical Center continue to sound the alarm about short-staffing.
In 2018, staffing issues, benefits and raises drove more than 2,000 nurses at Albany Medical Center to vote for union representation by the New York State Nurses Association. The nurses say hospital management has failed to follow the state’s staffing laws and failed to listen to frontline caregivers who say staffing levels are unsafe and lead to nurse burnout and high turnover. Their union contract expired July 31st.
Hospital officials point out that NYSNA has rejected more than 20 proposals over 14 negotiating sessions. Albany Med says it made a final proposal on Wednesday, also rejected. Labor and delivery nurse Jennifer Kiehle said "I've been here for three months now trying to negotiate a contract over several negotiating sessions. Our number one priority is and always has been, safe staffing at this hospital, and we now are in a crisis at this hospital of staffing."
The union says on Thursday night Albany Med agreed to mediation talks but a schedule has yet to be created. Kathryn Dupuis, an R.N. with nearly 30 years of experience, has been through the process before, and says it may take a week or two to find a mediator.
"It's frustrating right now," said Dupuis, "because we were hoping that we would be able to have a contract under our belt and we'd be able to move forward right now. And now we're just in a waiting game. We're waiting on a mediator. We're waiting to continue negotiations, and basically the most important thing is we're waiting to have safer staffing for our patients."
Kiehle says nurses are awaiting results of an investigation the New York State Department of Health launched into nurse staffing levels at Albany Med.
"Department of Health came to inspect the hospital and talked to nurses about staffing on June 4th. It's been two months. We don't know what that report says yet, because the Department of Health hasn't issued it yet. I would love to see it. I can't wait to see it, but I don't know if it's going to be a week from now or months from now, and we need the Department of Health to step up and get that report to us," Kiehle said.
The DOH has not responded to requests for comment. Albany Med President and CEO Dr. Dennis McKenna was not available for comment. In an email, a hospital spokesman wrote "We have not received the DOH’s findings, and we cannot speak to the department’s operations."
The nurses have held periodic pickets, safe-staffing rallies and a town hall over the past 12 years to bring attention to their plight.
Dupuis says they're going to once again picket outside the hospital on August 20th.
"Staff are very revved up for it, they really want to get this contract done. They know that we need language in our contract that supports us and doesn't divide us. We need ways to have our safe staffing laws enforced, and that's one of the biggest problems right now. We have the law, but there's no way to enforce it," said Dupuis.
According to its website, the Albany Med Health System has more than 4,000 dedicated nursing professionals across the organization.
