Baystate Noble Hospital nurses Paul Dubin and Dennise Colson carry a petition to hospital President Ron Bryant calling for a public meeting to discuss the future of the hospital. (HOPE E. TREMBLAY/THE WESTFIELD NEWS)
WESTFIELD – Baystate Noble Hospital nurses are demanding public transparency regarding changes that have taken place – and those that could be coming – at the hospital.
Baystate Noble registered nurses Dennise Colson and Paul Dubin presented a petition March 11 to Baystate Noble President Ron Bryant calling for a public meeting. The petition was signed by 95 percent of the 108-member Baystate Noble bargaining unit of the Massachusetts Nurses Association Bargaining Committee.
Dubin, who has been a nurse at Noble for 32 years, said there have been “remarkable” changes in the past six months, including layoffs that resulted in a reduction of nurses in Westfield, a concern as COVID-19 spreads.
“We have seen a decrease in services in general, our Intensive Care Unit closed, our Fowler Unit psychiatric department could be closing in the next two years, they combined units and they cut out a day of surgery,” Dubin said.
Colson is a surgical nurse who said surgery is no longer performed at Baystate Noble on Fridays. She and Dubin said the community needs to know about the changes and added that not all staff have been informed of what’s coming.
“We hear rumors,” said Colson.
Baystate Health President & CEO Mark A. Keroack addressed their concerns in a written statement.
“We have made and continue to make strong investments in the quality of care, services, facilities and programs offered throughout the Baystate Health system. Our decisions are made based on careful assessments of community health need, data around usage patterns in the local setting and best practices focused on providing the right care at the right time in the right place. We always consider the input from our community, with much engagement and support from our diverse groups of volunteer community representatives who serve on our boards, committees, and advisory councils at our hospitals and other entities,” he stated.
Keroack noted the timing of the petition is when the community is heightened because of the rapidly spreading coronavirus, or COVID-19.
“While we welcome a robust community engagement process, we are disappointed that the MNA leadership has chosen a time of great anxiety in all communities to express its views on this topic,” stated Keroack. “At this time, the leadership of Baystate Health, our clinical staff and our entire team of dedicated professionals are putting our focused efforts into preparing to manage the potential health impacts of a rapid spread of Covid-19.”
Because the number of those potentially affected by COVID-19 are rising every day, Dubin and Colson are concerned that there is not enough hospital staff to handle an influx of patients.
Colson said the emergency room was enlarged, but there are often not enough nurses working on the inpatient floor to care for patients who must be admitted. Often, nurses are pulled from the floor upstairs to help treat admitted patients who must remain in the ER until beds – and staff – are available.
“This is hurting our hospital,” Colson said.
Dubin and Colson also said that Baystate Noble serves the communities of the hilltowns, who already travel many miles to Westfield for care. Having to go to Springfield is a hardship for some, especially the elderly patients of the hilltowns.
“We want to be a full-service hospital for our patients,” said Dubin.
The Baystate Noble RN petition reads:
“To: Ron Bryant, Baystate Noble Hospital President
“We, the registered nurses of Baystate Noble Hospital, are committed to achieving a contract that improves nurse recruitment and retention and protects access to the high-quality care our team provides our patients every day. In 2019, Baystate eroded the care we are able to provide by closing our intensive care unit, cutting a majority of our 2N medical-surgical staff, cutting a day from our perioperative schedule, and threatening to close Fowler. As a result of these changes, an unprecedented number of patients are boarding in the Emergency Department. It’s simply unacceptable.
“We support our MNA bargaining committee’s request that you take immediate steps to schedule a public meeting with community members, elected officials and hospital staff to discuss Noble’s future. In the past, Baystate has made unilateral decisions, deciding to remove care options without seeking public input, and then closing those services even after the Department of Public Health has deemed them essential. Baystate’s lack of transparency and their decision to eliminate, consolidate and degrade local care cannot continue.
“Please let our bargaining committee know how you plan to address these issues.”
