UChicago's Nurses Have Returned To Work At 7:00am This Morning

Here in its entirety, unedited, is the statement released at 3:26am today, Wednesday morning, by "UChicago Medicine" -Sid :

"Striking nurses return to work at the University of Chicago Medical Center; labor talks resume next week

The University of Chicago Medical Center continued the transition to regular clinical operations Wednesday morning after a five-day workforce disruption caused by the National Nurses Organizing Committee/National Nurses United (NNOC/NNU) strike that began last week.

About 2,200 NNOC/NNU-represented nurses at the 618-bed academic medical center in Hyde Park went on strike at 7 a.m. on Friday, Sept. 20. The nurses will return to work beginning at 7 a.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 25. Both the adult and pediatric emergency departments remained open during the strike and will no longer be on ambulance bypass, and the medical center is fully resuming Level 1 trauma services. The Medical Center is also open to transfers from community hospitals and has resumed its role in the regional perinatal network.

Units that temporarily closed during the strike will continue reopening as our patient census continues to climb. Some patients who were transferred to other hospitals will return, although those decisions will be made on a case-by-case basis. Most of the sickest patients being treated at UCMC when the strike began remained at the medical center.

“Our clinical teams, including our nursing leaders, are focused exclusively on helping the Medical Center rapidly return to full operations after the union walkout,” said Sharon O’Keefe, University of Chicago Medical Center president. “No one won during this strike – not our patients, not our administration, not our nurses and certainly not the community we serve here on the South Side.”

UCMC contracted with hundreds of highly skilled, experienced and licensed replacement workers from across the country who worked hand-in-glove with clinical care teams throughout the strike. The hospital cared for hundreds of patients, performed emergency and elective surgeries, delivered more than 20 babies, and cared for a Level 1 trauma patient. Normal operations continued in the outpatient clinics and pharmacy.

“As our union-represented nurses return to work and we head back to the bargaining table, we’re keeping our focus on where it should be: our patients,” said Debi Albert, chief nursing officer and senior vice president for patient care services. “Our facilities are safe, our teams provide some of the best medical care in the country and our nurses are among the very highest paid in the market. Exceptional patient care was, is and always will be our mission. That’s what it was before this walkout and that’s what it will be after it’s done.”

Even though bargaining hasn’t yet resumed, NNOC/NNU leadership is openly threatening a second strike. Under federal law, the union would need to provide the medical center with a 10-day notice before a second walk-out.

“Unfortunately, the union’s talk of another strike isn’t surprising, since NNOC/NNU has made it clear that their primary interest is in striking rather than in reaching a new contract,” Albert said. “When we return to the table next week, we will pick up where we left off before the strike interrupted our discussions. Sadly, all of the issues that divided us remain on the table.”

Both sides, along with a federal mediator, agreed to resume negotiations Sept. 30.

The NNOC/NNU and the Medical Center began negotiating in March and have met about two dozen times. Bargaining teams began meeting with a federal mediator since the union called the first strike on Sept. 9. Updates on bargaining can be found at ucmcnurses.org.

“We’re grateful to our clinical teams who stayed behind during this walkout, our relief workers who came to patients’ bedsides and the greater Chicago medical community for helping us and our patients,” said Stephen Weber, chief medical officer. “We are particularly proud of our care teams and how they embraced our patients to ensure they received outstanding care.”

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Ashley M. Heher

UChicago Medicine

Director, Media Relations & Breaking News "