Leominster Hospital Registered Nurses File Charges Over Staff Cuts

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Wednesday, July 02, 2014

Nicholas Handy, GoLocalWorcester Contributor

A group of registered nurses (RNs) at the UMass-owned Leominster Hospital have filed an unfair labor practice (ULP) charge with the state office of the National Labor Relations Board after the hospital continually refused to provide information and documents about plans to merge the hospitals services and to cut staff.

The charge comes after several attempts by the Massachusetts Nurses Association – the union that represents the nurses – to obtain records, communications, and reports from the hospital’s management. These records detail the plan and the rationale for the staff cuts and service merges.

“We originally requested a complete copy of the AMS report from management on June 7, just one day after the hospital notified us of its intent to cut services and staff,” said Natalie M. Pereira, RN and bargaining unit chairperson. “Since then we have asked five additional times for the report: on June 9, 19, 20, 23, and 26. We have yet to receive the full report. Instead, management is proposing parceling out only what they deem relevant.”

The RNs who filed the charge feel that the plans will jeopardize the health and safety of the patients in the hospital, something the Massachusetts Nurses Association has been working hard of late to fight throughout hospitals in Massachusetts.

Reducing Staff

Between staff cuts and the merging of the pediatric, labor delivery, and maternity units, nurses are worried that they will have to take care of a dangerous number of patients at one time.

The hospital’s plan calls for increasing each nurses patient assignments on the night shift from five to six, which research shows will increase the risk of death for patients by seven to 14-percent. Management at the hospital is also proposing cuts to ED staffing, which would mean longer wait time for patients.

“We want the community to know that reduced staffing will force the remaining RNs to take on higher caseloads, and that patients will be put at considerable risk as a result,” said Debra Harris, RN and vice chairperson of the bargaining unit. “As a result, we will be meeting with our elected officials over the next few weeks and distributing lawn signs to businesses and homeowners throughout town, as well as considering other activities aimed at preventing these changes from being implemented.” 

Lack of Transparency

Because of situations that have happened at other hospitals, nurses in the Leominster Hospital are concerned that similar situations will happen after the mergers and staff cuts, which is exactly why they have been asking to see documents and reasoning as to why these cuts are needed.

Cooley Dickinson Hospital recently saw the death of two newborns and a mother after changing to the same staffing ratios that Leominster is contemplating.

The MNA and nurses throughout the hospital are concerned that Leominster Hospital not sharing information is going to lead to a lot of issues both for nurses and patients moving forward, which is why they advocate for more transparency moving forward.

“The hospital’s lack of transparency is very unsettling,” added Theresa Love, RN and secretary and grievance chair of the bargaining unit. “We still have yet to see a complete, hospital-wide plan in terms of lost and reduced positions. And we have countless unanswered questions about the proposed reorganization … especially in the labor and delivery, postpartum and pediatrics units, which are slated to be merged and their RNs cross trained. All these unknowns are difficult for the nurses who continue to deliver exceptional bedside care, but just imagine how difficult they must be for patients and the community at large.”

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