Saint Vincent Nurses Authorize Strike Amid Staffing Dispute

WORCESTER, MA — Hundreds of Saint Vincent Hospital nurses have voted to authorize a strike if a labor dispute with executives over staffing and other issues isn't resolved soon.

The hospital's roughly 800 nurses voted Wednesday to give union leaders the authority to call a strike if necessary. The nurses have complained for months about working conditions during the pandemic, but have especially focused on a lack of staffing levels inside the privately-owned hospital.

"We have tried for months to convince our administration and the Tenet corporation to provide us with the resources we need to keep the public safe, yet they only make things worse," nurse Marlena Pellegrino said in a statement Wednesday night. "While our goal is to avert a strike, should Tenet maintain its obstinance at the table, we will be compelled to take that step because our patients’ lives are on the line."

Through the Massachusetts Nurses Association (MNA) union, the Saint Vincent nurses have said staffing shortages have led to an increase in patient injuries and delays in medical care. The nurses want the hospital to create a pool of nurses who can assist in caring for critically ill patients; they also want a team of "rapid response" nurses who can be deployed to units when the number of patients rises.

The nurses have highlighted that Saint Vincent's owner, Tenet Healthcare, has received hundreds of millions from the federal government during the coronavirus pandemic. The company has also still turned a profit. Tenet, which also owns the MetroWest Medical Center hospitals, earned $414 million in net income in the fourth quarter, according to results reported on Monday — the company lost money in the same quarter one year ago. The company also spent $1.1 billion in December to buy a chain of ambulatory surgical centers across the U.S.

The nurses are in the midst of a larger contract renegotiation, and in a January statement the hospital accused the MNA of "disseminating inflammatory and misleading rhetoric" during previous demonstrations. The hospital has also said it offered raises to half the nurses between 17 and 23 percent in the new contract.

The Saint Vincent nurses held a large demonstration in early December to draw attention to the dispute. Groups of nurses have also been holding daily pickets outside the Summer Street hospital since January.

The MNA is also in the process of organizing nurses at the Milford Regional Medical Center. Over 500 nurses at the hospital are in the process of voting to join the union. Those workers have said their concerns about patient and nurse safety during the coronavirus pandemic haven't been properly addressed by hospital leaders.

The labor dispute is being mediated by a third party, and nurses union negotiators were set to return to talks on Thursday, the MNA said. If the nurses choose to strike, the hospital would have 10 days notice.