Unionized nurses at Albany Medical Center are demanding the hospital share a state Department of Health staffing deficiency report.
The New York State Nurses Association and Albany Med remain at odds over staffing and compensation concerns, which are playing a critical role in contract negotiations.
According to NYSNA, approximately half of Albany Med nurses have less than five years of bedside experience at the facility. With nearly 600 vacant nursing positions, Albany Med’s nurse vacancy rate is nearly 25%, while the average national vacancy rate is 10%.
Contract negotiations began in April. The nurses have been working without one since it expired on July 31st. R.N. Jaimie Alexanian says a long-awaited Staffing Deficiency Report was issued a week ago.
"They have confirmed that they received the report from the Department of Health on Friday, late afternoon, and as of now, [there are] no plans for us to see the report. I am on the staffing committee. We did formally email and asked to see, asked the committee to meet, to see the report, and so far, we have not gotten a response," said Alexanian.
NYSNA says the Department of Health inspected the hospital and talked with nurses about staffing on June 4th, but till now Albany Med hasn't come up with a plan to address recruitment and retention issues that nurses argue would help alleviate understaffing. A mediator has been overseeing bargaining sessions.
Labor and delivery nurse Jennifer Kiehle says this week she received an email from the state Department of Health stating that many of the nurses’ claims of short-staffing have been substantiated and that a copy of the report was delivered to hospital CEO Dr. Dennis McKenna.
"What happens next is Albany Med has 45 days to submit a corrective action plan," Kiehle said. "We are still waiting to hear, to see the report that Dr. McKenna received. The Department of Health says that he does have to share it with us, but we have not heard anything back from that yet. One thing in particular that I'd like to emphasize is that after Department of Health visited in June, in the next three weeks after that, in my department alone, we submitted 20 more complaints. So Albany Med already knew things were happening, then. They know there's a problem now, and they still don't appear to be taking steps to fix it or to follow the law."
Albany Med tells WAMC in an email that it's reviewing the DOH report and noted it is cognizant of the 45-day response timeframe.
Kiehle says the nurses continue to file complaints and they are frustrated that Albany Med is dragging its feet when it comes to sharing the DOH report, something the union says the staffing committee is entitled to see.
Alexanian says there are several troubling issues to be addressed.
"You know, the Department of Health said that we don't have enough nurses. They agree with us. Then, how do we hire more? Right? So that goes back to our contract, you know? How do we get a contract that attracts nurses? New York state has a lot of nurses, registered nurses, that aren't working in hospitals, and the reason is most likely that they're not getting paid enough. The conditions in hospitals are terrible. We're not we're being overworked, and that reflects on the patient care. So then patients in hospitals are waiting longer, they're getting sicker. I know of nurses that get paid a lot of money to sit at home and answer calls from an insurance company. So we have to try to try to figure out how to get them to come back," Alexanian said.
DOH replied to a request for comment via email, saying "This matter remains an active investigation and the Department does not comment on matters that are currently under or may be subject to future review or investigation."
