No deal: Saint Vincent Hospital nurses call proposal ‘disappointing’ as they prepare counteroffer
Saint Vincent Hospital striking nurses on Monday called the latest proposal from the Worcester hospital “disappointing,” as the strike drags on after almost five months.
The nurses with the Massachusetts Nurses Association said they’re working on a counterproposal to present on Tuesday.
“The St. Vincent Hospital nurses met with Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare for negotiations today, where Tenet presented a ‘disappointing’ proposal that fails to provide what the nurses need to end the strike,” the Massachusetts Nurses Association said in a statement.
“In response the nurses ended the session so they could share the hospital’s proposal with their members at a meeting tonight as they prepare a response to present at talks scheduled for tomorrow,” the MNA added on Monday.
The nurses and hospital management were back at the bargaining table on Monday. The negotiating session came less than a week after hospital management said it would be slashing services, blaming the hundreds of nurses who have been on strike since March.
“We presented a proposal to the MNA this morning,” a spokesman for Saint Vincent Hospital said in a statement. “Just after two this afternoon they told us they were done for the day and did not provide a counterproposal.”
The update on slashing services comes after the parties recently met and had “productive talks,” according to the Massachusetts Nurses Association.
The hospital said it will be scaling back both inpatient and outpatient services, including cutting 80 inpatient staffed beds and closing the cardiac rehab and wound care outpatient services.
More than 25% of procedural rooms will be closed, including reductions in the operating room, cardiac catheterization lab, endoscopy and interventional radiology.
The hospital said it will maintain a fully staffed Emergency Department.
from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/3A45dfD
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