Hundreds of nurses who participated in a strike at Trinity Health-owned St. Mary Medical Center in Langhorne, Pa., are slated to return to work Nov. 22, according to the union that represents them.
The nurses, who are represented by the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals, went on a 48-hour strike earlier this month, citing staffing as the biggest reason. The strike ended at 7 a.m. Nov. 19, but nurses won't be able to return to work until 7 a.m. Nov. 22, according to the union, which characterized the situation as a lockout. It estimated the replacement nurses are costing Livonia, Mich.-based Trinity Health up to $3.6 million.
"All we want is a full complement of staff and the wages and workplace culture to attract and retain experienced nurses," critical care nurse Donna Halpern, RN, said in a news release. "And instead of taking our concerns seriously and fixing the serious problems at the hospital, Trinity chose to let us strike and lock us out for three additional days. We think the money they are paying to out-of-state replacement nurses would be better spent on the nurses who work here every day and are part of our community."
Hospital management disputes the union's claim that there is a lockout. Trinity Health mid-Atlantic officials told Becker's nurses who went on strike will not return to work until Nov. 22 because St. Mary hired replacement nurses during the strike. The contract with the replacement nurses' agency guarantees them five days of work and reinstating the St. Mary nurses takes time, officials said.
"It took several days to transition care to the replacement nurses we have hired, and it will take several days to transition patient care back to striking St. Mary nurses in a safe and orderly way," the officials said, adding that any money spent to ensure continued access to care during the strike was viewed as necessary.
Staffing and wages are among the key sticking points in contract negotiations. Ultimately, nurses want hospital management to hire more nurses and take more steps to retain them, so patients are as safe as possible, according to the union. Hospital management said it has offered generous wage increases, as well as fair provisions and benefits, and that both sides have had productive talks around staffing in the most recent negotiations.