United Regional Chamber Opposes Nurse Staffing Ballot Question

The United Regional Chamber of Commerce, whose members include Sturdy Memorial Hospital and Norwood Hospital, along with numerous eldercare centers, rehabilitation facilities, and doctor’s offices, today joined the Coalition to Protect Patient Safety in opposition to the proposed nurse staffing ballot question.

“We believe that hospitals should be run by health care professionals and not a government entity,” said Jack Lank, President of the United Regional Chamber of Commerce. “The proposed ballot question is an extremely bad idea that will complicate the delivery of acute care and make it much more expensive.”

The ballot question, proposed by the Massachusetts nurses’ union, which represents less than a quarter of nurses in the Commonwealth, would require that hospitals across the state, no matter their size or specific needs of their patients, adhere to the same rigid nurse staffing ratios within all patient care areas. The petition does not make allowances for rural or small community hospitals, holding them to the same staffing ratios as major Boston teaching hospitals.

“If this were to pass, most hospitals, including Sturdy Memorial, would experience vastly higher costs to deliver lifesaving care with no evidence that it would improve patient quality or outcomes,” said David Spoor, Registered Nurse and Chief Nursing Officer at Sturdy Memorial Hospital. “The added expenses would prohibit hospitals from investing in new technology, equipment and staff, and could ultimately force vital community hospitals to close their doors.”

This measure would cost the state more than $800 million each year, and those costs will be felt across the healthcare system. Patients would feel it in the form of higher premiums, deductibles and taxes at a time when many Massachusetts families are already struggling to pay for health care. Hospitals will be forced to cut vital health programs, such as cancer screenings, opioid treatments, mental health services, early childhood intervention, domestic violence programs and pre- or post- natal care.

The United Regional Chamber of Commerce represents hundreds of businesses in Attleboro, Bellingham, Blackstone, Foxborough, Franklin, Mansfield, Medfield, Medway, Millis, Norfolk, North Attleborough, Norton, Plainville, Rehoboth, Seekonk and Wrentham. The Chamber supports their wide reaching local business community by advocating for important issues that affects the community’s way of life.

The United Regional Chamber of Commerce joins the American Nurses Association Massachusetts, the Organization of Nurse Leaders, the Massachusetts Health and Hospital Association, the Massachusetts Council of Community Hospitals, the Conference of Boston Teaching Hospitals, and other health care leaders in protecting the state’s healthcare system and its patients from the consequences of this rigid, costly mandate that is expected to be placed before voters in the November 2018 election.

Learn more about the Coalition to Protect Patient Safety at www.protectpatientsafety.com, www.Facebook.com/ProtectPatientSafety and www.Twitter.com/MAPatientSafety.