University Hospital workers approve new contract, nurses no longer required to treat Ebola

Here are four things to know about the contract.

1. The contract covers approximately 1,300 nurses and other healthcare workers represented by the Health Professionals and Allied Employees union.

2. Under the contract, workers will receive annual raises of two percent, according to the article.

3. Additionally, the contract includes new safeguards stemming from University Hospital’s experience with a potential Ebola case in 2014, according to the report. A nurse at the hospital was quarantined after returning from volunteering in West Africa. According to the report, the experience is now the basis of a lawsuit filed by the nurse, Kaci Hickox, who was kept in a plastic tent within the hospital while clinicians debated over her health status.

During the four-day Ebola episode, nurses felt unprepared to use the protective equipment required and worried about the financial hit they might take if they, in turn, had to be quarantined at home and couldn’t work, Bridget Devane, public policy director for the Health Professionals and Allied Employees union, said in the report.

4. Under the new contract, no one will be required to staff the quarantine unit, and people who are quarantined after providing care to a patient will continue to be paid during their quarantine, according to the report. Also, the report states, the contract provides for ongoing employee training for handling new pandemics, as well as an increase in tuition reimbursement available for every employee.

More articles on human capital and risk:

Next Up in HR

Nurses at Providence Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital begin 2-day strike

Brigham and Women's nurses reject contract offer

Endeavor nurses push to unionize amid Rush merger plans

More articles on human capital and risk:

Next Up in HR

Join the 500,000+ healthcare executives who start their day with Becker's