Press Releases

LOWELL, MA – Today, Congresswoman Lori Trahan (MA-03), a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Health Subcommittee, joined with registered nurses from St. Vincent Hospital in Worcester on their picket line to demand improved working conditions that will enable them to do their jobs safely and prioritize patients’ health and wellbeing.

“These incredible nurses have gone above and beyond to deliver for their patients and their community, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. As the daughter of a union ironworker, I know that no union arrives at the decision to strike lightly, and St. Vincent nurses’ resolve to reach an agreement that empowers them to successfully care for their patients is a testament to their commitment to their profession and their community. It’s time for Tenet Healthcare to acknowledge these nurses’ heroic efforts and negotiate in good faith to reach an agreement that works for nurses and the patients they care for,” said Congresswoman Trahan.

“We are putting everything on the line over these last eight weeks for the safety of our patients, to ensure that when they are scared and confused and they push that call button, we can respond and provide the comfort and support they expect and deserve from us, the nurses of St. Vincent Hospital,” said Marlena Pellegrino, RN, longtime nurse at the hospital and co-chair of the nurses’ local bargaining unit with the Massachusetts Nurses Association. “But as we make this fight we have not been alone, as great leaders, like Congresswoman Trahan have been right there with us, standing up for our patients and our community.”

Since March 8^th, 800 registered nurses from St. Vincent have been on strike to reach an agreement with the Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare that improves staffing and patient care in the facility. According to the Massachusetts Nurses Association (MNA), St. Vincent nurses have filed more than 600 official “unsafe staffing” reports in the past year – with more than 110 of those reports being filed since the beginning of 2021 alone – to management detailing dangerous conditions caused by a hazardous patient-to-nurse ratio that have led to increased patient falls, higher numbers of patients experiencing preventable bed sores, and even instances of delayed treatment.

Trahan, the daughter of a union ironworker who knows firsthand the importance of a union’s ability to collectively bargain for safer working conditions, proudly joined nurses on the picket line in calling for the staffing and patient care condition improvements sought for the duration of their more than yearlong negotiations with Tenet, which have remained consistent during the strike, including:

• Improved staffing guidelines that ensure all nurses benefit from a safe patient-to-nurse ratio and have access to support staff that can assist with patient care;

• Establishment of a pool of nurses with expertise in caring for patients in critical condition, an especially important for nurses working in the emergency department who are currently tasking with caring for five to six patients while also tending to patients waiting for an ICU bed to open;
• The addition of “STAT and Rapid Response” nurses who would be on standby to respond to urgent and critical situations when a patient suffers a serious decline in their condition on medical or surgical floors.

Nurses and representatives from Tenet resumed negotiations yesterday afternoon for the first time since Tenet walked away from the table on March 3^rd. Tenet’s initial withdrawal came just two days after the corporation’s first proposal that came up woefully short of the concessions necessary to ensure the safety of patients in need of care in the hospital’s critical care units, emergency department, maternity, behavioral health, and other medical surgical floors.

Sadly, representatives from Tenet failed once again yesterday to address nurses’ requests for safer staffing conditions that are at the core of the strike. According to MNA, the only change made to Tenet’s offer before the strike was the establishment of a committee that would review current staffing levels on a quarterly basis. There was no commitment made to improve the patient-to-nurse ratio that jeopardizes patient safety by stretching nurses too thin.

More information on the staffing crisis, as well as efforts by the nurses to negotiate for safer conditions before going on strike, can be accessed by clicking HERE.

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