After ending their two-day strike, several dozen Upper Peninsula Health System-Marquette (Mich.) nurses were allegedly locked out of the facility and not allowed to report for work Saturday, according to Crain's Detroit Business.
Stephanie DePetro, RN, a nurse at UPHS-Marquette who participated in the strike, said nurses who were scheduled to report to work at 7 a.m. Oct. 7 were reportedly greeted with a sign informing people to notify security if the door the nurses typically enter through was found open, the report states.
"I never saw a sign like that before. ... Nurses who tried to report for work were turned away," Ms. DePetro told Crain's Detroit Business. "We could see ... hospital officials inside trying to hide from us. We were standing outside and they could see us."
In a statement to Becker's Hospital Review on behalf of UPHS-Marquette, the hospital's parent company Brentwood, Tenn.-based Duke LifePoint Healthcare said: "UPHS-Marquette has been made aware of rumors regarding a 'lock out' at the hospital. This is inaccurate and we would like to clarify with the community. A 'lock out' is a situation that occurs when an employer takes preemptive action to prevent employees from working. This is not happening at UPHS-Marquette."
The statement continued: "As previously shared, [UPHS-Marquette] retained a nationally respected staffing agency to secure highly qualified replacement nurses during the [Michigan Nurses Association's] declared two-day work stoppage. A minimum commitment of five days is required to secure this level of nursing coverage, which therefore means we expect to be fully staffed with replacement nurses Saturday, Sunday and Monday – Oct. 7, 8 and 9. After these dates, our regular nursing staff will be back at work as usual."
The hospital's 400 nurses have been negotiating a contract with the UPHS officials for more than six months, according to the report. Some of the nurses' stipulations include hiring additional nurses and ending mandatory overtime.
Ms. DePetro said the legal counsel for the MNA, which represents the UPHS-Marquette nurses, has reached out to hospital officials to schedule more negotiating sessions, but that the MNA's calls "are not returned," the report states.
In a seperate statement to Becker's, a spokesperson for Duke LifePoint said: "Duke LifePoint is confident the hospital managed the recent work stoppage related to contract negotiations with the Michigan Nurses Association appropriately and with the continuation of quality patient care as its top priority. We know and trust that all parties involved in this process will strive to find the common ground necessary to negotiate a mutually acceptable labor agreement in Marquette."