'Chaotic' scenes inside 2 New York City hospitals during nurses' strike.
Nurses on strike outside Montefiore Hospital in the Bronx on Monday, Jan. 9, 2023.
On the picket line in New York City’s largest nurse strike in decades, nurses said they were worried about conditions inside. But they were outside the buildings for now, they said, because they wanted to improve care so they could keep patients safer in the longer term. At Montefiore, a vital safety-net hospital in the northeast Bronx, nurses said one of the main reasons they were striking was that tumultuous was too often the norm.
This is the first contract being negotiated since before the pandemic began, and understaffing, long an issue, has grown as a problem as hospitals have failed to replace nurses who have left, either to pursue higher-paying jobs or because of trauma and burnout after several COVID-19 waves.
The main campus of Mount Sinai is down to about 525 patients, from its typical 1,100, as patients are transferred to Mount Sinai West and Mount Sinai Morningside, where union agreements have already been reached, she said. “This is a strike crisis, and we are responding to it,” she said. Facing Central Park, Mount Sinai draws many patients from both East Harlem and the Upper East Side, but also from elsewhere in the city. More patients have commercial insurance, rather than government-sponsored Medicaid, which means that the hospital is paid better for each patient than hospitals in other boroughs, where more patients tend to have lower-reimbursing Medicaid.
After contracts between the New York State Nursing Association and about a dozen private hospitals in the city expired Dec. 31, eight hospitals have come to tentative agreements or ratified them. All of the hospitals have agreed to wage increases that total about 19% over three years, an offer also on the table at Montefiore and Mount Sinai.
Malaysia Latest News, Malaysia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Amid the chaotic speakership debate in the House, a star is born - New York Amsterdam NewsNew York Democratic Rep. Hakeem Jeffries provided a masterclass on leadership and served up a clear reminder of what an up-and-coming senator from Illinois named Barack Obama once did during a divided America.
Read more »
7,000 nurses strike at 2 New York City hospitals after talks collapseMore than 7,000 nurses at two major New York hospitals walked off the job Monday morning, protesting pay and staffing arrangements they contend have overwhelmed health care professionals during the coronavirus pandemic and beyond.
Read more »
New York City sees 7,000 nurses on strike at Mount Sinai, Montefiore hospitals after bargaining failsMore than 7,000 nurses at New York City's Mount Sinai Hospital and Montefiore are on strike Monday after union reps walked from the table despite Gov. Kathy Hochul's call to settle.
Read more »
Thousands of nurses strike across New York City in push for higher staffing levelsOver 7,000 nurses across New York City went on strike Monday morning — one of the biggest the country has seen — after their union failed to secure new contract agreements demanding increased staffing levels.
Read more »
Nurses Go On Strike At 2 Big New York City HospitalsThe walkout involves as many as 3,500 nurses at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx and about 3,600 at Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan.
Read more »