Ontario, Calif.-based Prime Healthcare said it reached three-year labor agreements Aug. 6 with unions representing nearly 2,000 nurses and staff members at St. Francis Medical Center in Lynwood, Calif.
The agreements, with the United Nurses Associations of California and Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West, address wages and health benefits for more than 85 percent of St. Francis employees. These employees work in areas including nursing, admission, clinical laboratory, dietary, emergency, housekeeping, labor and delivery, neonatal services, surgery services, nuclear medicine and pharmacy.
"St. Francis's dedicated nurses and staff members have worked extraordinarily hard to serve South Los Angeles, and these agreements reflect our shared mission of providing quality healthcare to the community," Rich Martwick, assistant general counsel at Prime Healthcare, said in a news release. "We look forward to collaborating with the unions and all hospital staff to ensure a successful future for St. Francis."
The agreements come amid a pending sale. In April, Prime Healthcare won a bid in bankruptcy court to acquire 384-bed St. Francis from bankrupt El Segundo, Calif.-based Verity Health System for a net consideration of more than $350 million.
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra conditionally approved the sale in July, and Prime said it expects to get final approval by U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California soon.