Update: DCMH nurses push for contract, authorize 2 day strike

[NRSKarenRN, BSN, RN]

Delaware County Daily News:

12/6/16

By Kevin Tustin

DCMH nurses, techs push for contract, more staff

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.. Going almost one year without a contract since they unionized in January with the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals (PASNAP), dozens of workers were out along Lansdowne Avenue to let the community know they are still providing the same quality of care they always have while negotiating a contract with the hospital's for-profit owner, Prospect Medical Holdings, Inc...

...Among their sister hospitals in the CKHS, DCMH nurses are still behind in pay said Darling, with the tech staff being paid $7-$10 less per hour, equal thousands of dollars in one year....

Most FIRST nursing union contracts take over 1 year to negotiate. Added into the mix is the Crozer Keystone Health System was sold to FOR PROFIT Prospect Holdings effective 7/1/16.

Recently, I've spoken to several staff . Despite CKHS prior parent company eliminating over 300 positions past several years, staffing is down to the bones. Nurses have taken downsized positions in order to keep ancillary staff --now some ancillary hours being cut to 72 per 2 wk schedule.

[NRSKarenRN, BSN, RN]

Getting the first contract @ DCMH signed proving to be difficult, despite Crozer's other 2 hospitals with nursing unions, one of them Crozer's PASNAP unit which STARTED the union 20 yrs ago. Karen

DCMH nurses threaten 2-day strike over lack of new contract

The 370 nurses and technical employees at DCMH say they will hit the bricks Sunday and Monday, March 5-6 to protest what they claim is unfair treatment by the hospital's new owner. The group won the right to unionize nearly a year ago under the former owner, Crozer Keystone Health System.

In July 2016, the hospital was acquired by Prospect Medical Holdings Inc., a subsidiary of the hedge fund Leonard Green & Partners. They two sides have been unable to reach a deal on a new contract.

The DCMH workers, who are now members of the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses & Allied Employees (PASNAP), allege the company has steadfastly refused to talk about guaranteed patient safety through safe staffing practices.

[NRSKarenRN, BSN, RN]

Delaware County Memorial Hospital nurses to strike

Officials for the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses & Allied Employees, representing 370 registered nurses and technical employees at the Upper Darby facility, said Prospect Medical walked away from the bargaining table over staffing levels.

Representatives for Crozer-Keystone Health System denied that. Delaware County Memorial Hospital is one of the five hospitals within the Crozer-Keystone system that has been owned by Prospect Medical since July.

Nurses will be out of the building for five days – two due to the strike and another three because Crozer-Keystone officials say the agencies they hire to temporarily replace the nurses require five days of work.

Prospect,” they said, has failed to live up to that promise, resulting in an increased number of patients per individual nurse, creating unsafe conditions for patients. As a result, employees are leaving DCMH, creating a shortage of bedside nurses and technical employees.”

The statement released by DCMH administration said no changes have been instituted in staffing processes since the Prospect purchase.

ore, nursing leadership checks staffing levels four times a day, each and every day, to ensure appropriate staffing,” it read. While we agree with the union that staffing is important, very few hospitals outside of California – and none in Pennsylvania – have adopted a staffing policy using ratios.”