St. Mary Medical Center Nurses Raise Concern Over Staffing Levels

Nurses at St. Mary Medical Center on Thursday said they have concerns that staff cuts at the hospital could undermine patient safety.

The union nurses are represented by the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals (PASNAP) and voted this week to authorize their bargaining committee to submit a 10-day strike notice to the hospital if they deem it necessary.

The two-day vote by hospital nurses drew about 80 percent of the roughly 775 members, who voted 85 percent to authorize the strike authorization option.

As part of their contract talks, the nurses have called for improvements to staffing, restoration of nurse-led response teams for patients, pay rates to match other Trinity facilities, and better protections in the age of COVID-19.

The contract talks between the nurses and the hospital ownership were the reason nurses went public with their concerns.

Lynn McCarthy, a nurse for 39 years and 10 years at St. Mary Medical Center, said she’s noticed the hospital make staffing cuts since Trinity Health took over within the past few years. She said she was initially against the union, but changed her mind after the seeing the cuts and their impacts.

“We are no longer the shining star,” she said. “Everything is being taken away from us.”

McCarthy choked back tears as she noted that the community has been so supportive during COVID-19 by making homemade signs, dropping off meals, and donating protective equipment.

“I can’t say enough about the community,” she said, adding she wished the hospital ownership supported the medical staff the same way.

“Trinity has taken so much away from us. This is not what we want. We love to take care of patients,” she said.

Ellen Stevenson, a nurse at the hospital since 1988, recalled the days when the Catholic nuns ran the hospital. She said the support and care was evident during their oversight.

“It was like a virus took over the hospital,” she said of the cuts since Midwest-based Trinity Health gained control.

Over the past few years, she said she has noticed the ownership cares more and more about finances despite making an average of $44 million profit per year recently.

“It’s a great hospital and I want keep it that way,” she said.

Nurse Robert Bozek, who works at the hospital, said much of his frustration comes from the cuts. He said the hospital cut a full-time dedicated team to make sure higher-risk patients got proper care and converted it to added duties for nurses with other front-line roles.

The program was designed to help patients avoid cardiac arrest and other life-threatening complications, Bozek said.

“To dump the program and not replace it was an insult to the entire facility,” he told LevittownNow.com.

He said the nurses want the hospital to place staffing minimums and reinstate the response team in their next contract. The cuts, he said, are likely to have impacts on early intervention that could save lives.

Debbi Bozeman, a nurse at the hospital since 2009, said she’s seen things change for the worst over the past few years.

“It started with a few cuts and grew from there,” she said.

Bozeman said nursing assistants in her unit were told when she started that they would never have more than 11 patients on one shift, but that number has increased to as many as 22 patients per shift.

“We just want people to be safe,” she said.

P.J. Prendergast, a nurse at the hospital for nearly three years, said he has been troubled by staffing cuts and their impacts. He said nurses from other units are often shuffled around to fill empty shifts and that has impacted morale.

Prendergast also said Trinity Health needs to offer competitive pay to keep skilled staff and cease constant shuffling to fill open shifts. He said those steps would help boost morale.

The nurses and the hospital’s bargaining team met for hours on Wednesday. The hospital team, according to the union, “abruptly left the last scheduled and agreed-upon negotiating session with the nurses an hour and 25 minutes early.”

The vote by the majority of union members does not guarantee a strike, but it allows the union’s bargaining committee to submit a 10-day strike notice to the hospital if they deem it needed.

“We remain steadfastly committed to negotiating in good faith with PASNAP to make sure we arrive at an initial contract for our nurses that is fair to all and sustainable. We have stated before and still believe that continuing to have an open and honest dialogue as we continue negotiations will do more to advance that goal for both our nurses and St. Mary than a strike, or a strike threat, will. St. Mary has made arrangements to ensure the safety of all patients, colleagues and visitors should there be a strike,” Christy McCabe, director of marketing for Trinity Health Mid-Atlantic, said in a statement.

The union nurses and hospital owner Trinity Health have been bargaining since last October.

The nurses voted last year to join the union following a contentious campaign.

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