Patient safety key to contract talks
By Kathy McCarty
PRESQUE ISLE — Patient safety is once again at the heart of contract negotiations between The Aroostook Medical Center and the nurses employed at the Academy Street health care facility.
Negotiations began in June between the Maine State Nurses Association/California Nurses Association/National Nurses and Committee — the union TAMC nurses belong to — and TAMC officials.
“Nurses at TAMC have been in contract negotiations since June; both sides have made quite a few proposals — mostly the nurses have made proposals. But we’re really not getting anywhere with regard to language concerning patient care and safety,” said Lori McPherson, a registered nurse in the recovery room at the hospital and president of the local nurses’ union.
McPherson said the nurses are primarily concerned about adequate staffing in the various departments at the hospital and providing optimum patient care in those departments.
“We need to be adequately staffed to provide properly for patients’ needs. Hospital officials are failing to agree to adequate provisions,” she said.
The nurses’ contract was scheduled to expire in August but both sides agreed to an extension in hopes of finding a solution that would best suit all parties involved.
“The provision we’re asking for in particular has to do with patient care and safety. That’s not something we’re willing to sacrifice,” said McPherson.
Understaffing has resulted in longer hours for nurses employed by the hospital, with fewer nurses to handle patients’ care, according to McPherson.
Nurses met Thursday evening to take a vote on where to go from here, with a strike a possible option.
“The meeting went very well. A majority of the nurses turned out for the vote. They gave bargaining members a 95 percent pass to strike when and if necessary,” said McPherson.
Hospital officials are hoping to resolve the matter before that happens.
“We’ve been negotiating with the RN union. We had a one-year contract with them through Aug. 1, 2010. That contract remains in effect, by law, until a new contract comes into effect. We’ve been working with them since June to negotiate a contract,” said Joy Barresi-Saucier, vice president of organizational advancement at TAMC, noting this is the same negotiating process hospital officials and the nurses’ union have undertaken for the past three years.
Barresi-Saucier said negotiations have been under way for several months. Both sides have brought proposals to the table for review and both sides continue to work on those proposals.
“At this point, they have stated publicly they’re concerned about the safety of patients at the hospital. What we know about our facility is we provide very good care at the hospital, with highly-rated service. We have staffing guides we use that are replicated in other areas of the state,” she said.
According to Barresi-Saucier, the hospital’s nursing vacancies are below the national average for other similarly-sized health care facilities.
“Our vacancy rate, as of right now, is a little less than 4 percent. The national average falls somewhere between 4-13 — a national average of about 8 percent,” said Barresi-Saucier.
“We feel we have very safe care here. Our number 1 priority is patient care and we will continue to provide that,” she continued.
Salary is another item Barresi-Saucier said was up for discussion.
“One item still on the table they haven’t spoken about is salary and payment negotiations. We appreciate the role nurses play in our organization and the services they provide. Ultimately, we take care of them. But as for salary, that’s still being negotiated,” said Barresi-Saucier.
She said a 7 percent salary increase has been requested, plus their annual increase, referred to as a ‘step increase.’ Given the current economy, TAMC officials are being more watchful of any spending, including salaries.
“In 2009, registered nurses that were part of the bargaining unit made on average — the median wage was almost $58,000. We (TAMC officials) believe that’s a good wage for our area for the very important role they play, in addition to the very nice benefits package they receive as well,” said Barresi-Saucier.
Barresi-Saucier said hospital officials understand compensation is important for recruitment and retention but other factors must be taken into consideration as well.
“At the same time, we need to find balance — the ability to maintain a financially sound facility, in this time of economic uncertainty,” said Barresi-Saucier.
TAMC took steps earlier this year to save money, according to Barresi-Saucier, offering an early retirement program beginning in the spring, where several employees volunteered for early retirement. “That helped with our finances. We continue to look at every department, to make sure we’re working as effectively and efficiently as we can,” Barresi-Saucier said. “This is a challenging time for health care.”
McPherson said if negotiations continue to stall, the nurses may have no option but to strike.
“We (members of the nurses’ union) met with the board of directors — sent a letter with regard to issues and requested an opportunity to speak with them to express nurses’ concerns. At the end of last week we received a polite refusal to meet. They feel they’re adequately informed by TAMC management and know what’s going on,” said McPherson.
The nurses and TAMC officials have an upcoming meeting to continue to try to work out a contract.
“We still have another negotiating date Oct. 5 at Academy House that will include a mediator,” said McPherson.
Nurses have informed the hospital of their intention to picket prior to the meeting.
“We received a 10-day notice to picket and engage in other activity (from the nurses’ union). They intend to engage in this activity between 7 a.m. Oct. 4 through 7 a.m. Oct. 4 at the A.R. Gould campus, at the Academy Street and Cedar Street entrances. This will be in informational picket, not a strike,” said Barresi-Saucier.
TAMC officials emphasize this event will in no way interfere with patient access to the facility.
“We want to reassure the community that patient care will not be impacted by this informational picket. We’re working to ensure that traffic flow will be safe and patients will have no problem accessing hospital grounds for services,” said Barresi-Saucier.