Pottstown (Pa.) Memorial Medical Center registered nurses voted Wednesday to join the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals.
The vote was 189-129 in favor of unionization.
The 347 RNs at PMMC began organizing themselves in late April, citing concerns over staffing, equipment, training, wages and employee health insurance, according to a news release.
In response to Wednesday's vote, Deborah Zelenak, a medical surgical nurse at the hospital, said in a statement, "I love being a nurse. It is what I'm supposed to do. I've been a nurse for 25 years and hope to continue for many more. My priority has always been to give the best care to my patients and now with our union we will be able to do that. Our concerns will no longer fall on deaf ears."
PMMC also released a statement, saying, "We are committed to continuing in a productive, mutually beneficial and respectful relationship with all of our employees."
PMMC, which is owned by Franklin, Tenn.-based Community Health Systems, is the latest Pennsylvania hospital to have workers unionize. Nurses at two facilities — Philadelphia-based Hahnemann University Hospital and Drexel Hill, Pa.-based Delaware County Memorial Hospital — voted to join the PASNAP earlier this year. Additionally, service workers at St. Christopher's Hospital for Children in Philadelphia and Delaware County Memorial Hospital in Drexel Hill, Pa., voted in June to join District 1199C.
A significant majority of the non-professional and technical staff at PMMC belong to the Service Employees International Union.
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