Nurses at Samaritan Medical Center in Watertown, N.Y., and St. Elizabeth Medical Center in Utica, N.Y., have ratified new contracts with hospital management, according to the New York State Nurses Association.
The union, which represents the nurses, said the new contract includes five additional full-time employees, among other staffing initiatives. It also includes wage increases totaling 9 percent over the life of the contract, and replaces the nurses' base health insurance plan "with a superior health plan at a reduced cost," according to the NYSNA.
The new four-year contract will expire on June 30, 2019.
At Samaritan, nurses voted to ratify a new five-year contract, concluding 13 months of negotiations between the NYSNA and hospital.
Under the agreement, Samaritan will purchase and implement a patient classification system, which determines staffing needs based on the acuity level of patients at any given time, the union said.
Nursing staffing committees also will be created in each of the seven clinical practice areas throughout the hospital to address clinical practice, staffing and workflow improvements in their respective units, according to the NYSNA. Additionally, a nursing resource team will be created "to immediately respond and address any situation that a nurse feels that staffing is unsafe," the union said, and a specialty float pool will be created "to provide specialty-trained registered nurses to respective units when a need for additional staffing is needed."
The agreements follow a tentative contract agreement between the union and Nathan Littauer Hospital in Gloversville, N.Y. The ratification vote at Nathan Littauer Hospital is scheduled for Thursday. All three New York hospitals have averted a nurse strike by reaching agreements with the NYSNA.
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