St. Vincent Nurses Go On Strike In Worcester

WORCESTER, MA — About 800 nurses at St. Vincent Hospital in Worcester walked off the job Monday morning. The nurses want boosted staffing levels, but a compromise with hospital leaders has not materialized after more than a year of negotiations.

The scene outside St. Vincent's main entrance was almost jubilant Monday morning. Dozens of nurses holding signs chastising St. Vincent CEO Carolyn Jackson stood along Summer Street waving at passing cars that honked in support. A contingent of Teamsters workers stood in solidarity, and a Teamsters tractor-trailer circled the block blaring its horn.

Meanwhile, hospital officials say they have hired replacement nurses to work during the strike. The St. Vincent nurses last went on strike in 2000, an event that lasted 49 days. The current strike is open-ended.

The strike officially began at 6 a.m., but it appeared imminent in recent days. By Saturday morning, the Massachusetts Nurses Association (MNA) had set up a strike headquarters next to a Starbucks across the street from the hospital. And on Sunday morning, St. Vincent leaders issued a statement saying the facility would remain fully staffed through the duration of the strike.

"This strike will only exacerbate divisiveness during a critical stage of the COVID-19 pandemic when we should be coming together to care for our patients and community," the statement said. "We value our relationship with all our employees, and we are committed to resolving the contract negotiations."

But nurses say it's the hospital that's endangering patients during the pandemic. Nurses have filed hundreds of unsafe-staffing complaints over the past year due to unsafe staffing levels, according to the MNA.

"The nurses also report their patients in Worcester are experiencing an increase in patient falls, an increase in patients suffering from preventable bed sores, potentially dangerous delays in patients receiving needed medications and other treatments — all due to lack of appropriate staffing, excessive patient assignments, and cuts to valuable support staff," an MNA statement said.

St. Vincent is owned by Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare. The for-profit health conglomerate reported about $399 million in net income in fiscal 2020, a turnaround from a $226 million loss in fiscal year 2019, according to the company's financial filings. Tenet also owns the MetroWest Medical Center hospitals in Natick and Framingham.

The MNA gave the hospital a 10-day strike notice on Feb. 24, allowing time for last-ditch negotiations to take place. St. Vincent said it offered nurses wage increases, better benefits and items such as increased ER security staffing.

The MNA says about 32 negotiating sessions have been held since late 2019, and a federal mediator is now involved. The union said Tenet "walked away" from negotiations on March 3. The hospital offered to boost staffing on two units, but the nurses are seeking staffing increases across 10 other units.

The hospital says "there is no valid research that concludes that staffing ratios improve patient outcomes."