A union representing nurses and technicians at Drexel Hill, Pa.-based Delaware County Memorial Hospital and hospital owner Los Angeles-based Prospect Medical Holdings are slated to resume negotiations later this month, according to a report delconewsnetwork.com.
The DCMH workers, who are represented by the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Affiliated Professionals, began a planned two-day strike Sunday.
Although the strike was set to end March 6, nurses are expected to be away from work through Friday morning, according to the report. Hospital officials previously told Becker's Hospital Review via email this is because the staffing agency the hospital is using has imposed a five-day minimum as a condition of providing replacements. "Strikers who have made an unconditional offer to return to work will be permitted to return as soon as there is a need for their services," they added.
PASNAP and Prospect Medical Holdings are scheduled to begin their next negotiation session March 14, according to the report.
"Union members will return to work on Friday morning," union Executive Director Bill Cruice said in the report. "The members will continue to mobilize their voices to persuade Prospect to improve staffing conditions and to agree to a framework within which nurses can raise their ongoing concerns regarding nurse staffing levels."
Hospital officials in their email earlier this week called for the union to "return to the bargaining table and bargain with us in good faith." As far as staffing, hospital officials said in the report a proposal is up for consideration.