More than a dozen nurses held an informational picket outside Wilkes-Barre (Pa.) General Hospital Monday over nurse staffing levels, according to report by The Scranton Times-Tribune.
Nurses at the Community Health Systems-owned hospital are represented by the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals union. According to the union, since the Franklin, Tenn.-based system took over the hospital five years ago, nurse workloads have increased, and nurses are responsible for too many patients.
In a statement to the Times-Tribune, a spokeswoman for Commonwealth Health, an umbrella group for area hospitals owned by CHS, said Wilkes-Barre General Hospital is staffed to "meet the volume and medical needs of our patients and in accordance with legislated and regulatory guidelines" and that "providing safe, quality patient care is our highest priority at Wilkes-Barre General Hospital."
Wilkes-Barre General Hospital's nurses have been working without a contract since April 2013, and they went on strike in late 2013.
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