Nurses at 2 Pennsylvania hospitals to hold one-day strike: 7 things to know

Kelly Gooch -

Registered nurses at First Hospital, a private psychiatric facility in Kingston, Pa., and Moses Taylor Hospital, a 214-bed, acute care facility in Scranton, Pa., will begin to strike on April 25, according to a Times Leader report.

Here are seven things to know.

1. The nurses, who are represented by the Service Employees International Union Healthcare Pennsylvania, plan to strike for 24 hours.

"The strike follows months of unproductive negotiations that have failed to yield fair union contracts that include progress on key issues such as understaffing, safety, and the floating of nurses between hospital units," said the union in a news release cited in the report.

2. First Hospital mental health technicians, who are also represented by the union, will participate in the strike as well due to "the hospital's illegal implementation of its final contract offer," according to the release.

3. Hospital officials indicated both facilities will be fully staffed and operational during the strike.

4. Elizabeth Leo, chief human resources officer of Moses Taylor Hospital, said in an emailed statement to The Times-Tribune: "We have received the union's strike notice and are prepared to continue providing quality care to our patients. All inpatient, outpatient and emergency services will be available and surgeries and diagnostic procedures will occur as scheduled."

5. Clayton Nottelmann, chief human resources officer at First Hospital, provided similar comments.

"Providing compassionate, quality care for patients needing behavioral services is always our top priority at First Hospital and we are ready to continue our mission during the union's strike," he said in an emailed statement. "First hospital will be open and will provide uninterrupted care for patients in our care."

6. SEIU said in a separate news release the strike comes as nurses from the hospitals have been working under expired union contracts. According to The Times-Tribune, the contracts for the nurses, as well as First Hospital mental health technicians, expired in 2017.

7. Both hospitals are owned by Commonwealth Health, which was formed by Franklin, Tenn.-based Community Health Systems in 2012.

 

 

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