A group of nurses from Baystate Noble Hospital cheer on one of the speakers at a demonstration on Westfield Park Square (Photo by Lynn Boscher)
WESTFIELD – The Massachusetts Nurses Association (MNA) provided an informational picket for the Baystate Noble Hospital nurses on Wednesday afternoon. The picket happened on the sidewalks near the Court St. entrance of the hospital.
The contract for the Noble Hospital nurses expired on March 31, 2016 and negotiations between the nurses and Baystate Health have been ongoing ever since.
Patient care is an important aspect that the MNA and the nurses feel should be negotiated in their contract.
“Our number one priority is patient care and patient limits,” said Paul Dubin, who is a nurse in the rehab unit at Noble and the co-chairman for the MNA.
The Noble Hospital nurses picketing outside the hospital feel that patient care has been lacking due to low staffing. According to the press release from the MNA on January 9, 94 % of nurses at Noble were surveyed before negotiations began and said that their unit was short-staffed some or most of the time.
Noble Hospital nurses and members of the Massachusetts Nurses Association had an informational picket outside Noble Hospital on Wednesday afternoon. (Photo by Greg Fitzpatrick)
Rubin says that some nurses at Noble have gone without breaks and lunch breaks because they are understaffed and also causes nurses to have to do several tasks besides caring for the patient.
“When you take the nurse away from the bedside, you take away that care,” said Dubin.
Dennise Colson, one of the nurses picketing, feels that a contract needs to be put in place.
“The goal is to get a contract in the end,” said Colson. “The nurse’s goal is to make sure it’s fair and for the patients.”
The importance of staffing was certainly highlighted at the picket as the nurses and the MNA frequently chanted, “hey, hey, oh, oh, unsafe staffing has to go,” and “be fair to those who care.”
Baystate Health was also able to comment on the needs from the Noble Hospital nurses regarding staffing.
“We really strongly disagree that there is any resemblance of unsafe staffing at Noble Hospital,” said Baystate Health President
Ronald Bryant, President and CEO
.
According to Bryant, and reported by the National Quality Forum, the staffing at Baystate is well above the average.
“We’re very, very confident that our staffing levels are safe and really in most instances, above the averages not only in the state, but in the nation,” said Bryant.
Noble Hospital nurses went on to say that they would like to see staffing grids added into the contract.
Bryant says that if any nurse is unsatisfied with the staffing, they have the resources to address the problem.
“There’s a process they can go through with management,” said Bryant. “We can certainly address these issues.”
Another key element to contract negotiations that the Noble nurses were discussing at the picket was the health insurance plan that they are currently receiving and the changes they want to be made.
The current health insurance plan for the nurses at Noble Hospital is a one-year plan with HMO (Health Maintenance Organization). This means that the nurses will need the majority of their health care to be from a network provider.
The nurses will have to use the options that Baystate Health offers them in their plan.
Ann Kennedy, who is an ICU (Intensive Care Unit) nurse at Noble, wants to see more options with the health insurance plan.
“I would think you would have more than one option,” said Kennedy.
Rather than an HMO, Kennedy believes that a PPO (Preferred Provider Organization) should be in the health insurance plan, so the nurses have the option to look at out of network providers.
Although Kennedy knows that the doctors at Noble Hospital are great care providers, Kennedy wants to have the option of choosing her own doctor.
“I want to go to the doctor who I feel is best for my care,” said Kennedy.
Baystate Health stands by their health insurance plan and continues to encourage the Noble nurses to use the benefits they have in the plan.
“That plan is still in place,” said Bryant. “We encourage folks to not only use our plan, but use our hospitals.
The contract negotiations between Baystate Health and the Noble Hospital nurses began on February 10, 2016, have held 17 negotiating session and will continue to meet.
As Bryant has been the President of Baystate Health for almost six years, this is the third time he has gone through contract negotiations with Noble Hospital.
Bryant noted that, “It’s not unusual for these contracts to go past their expiration dates.”
There is no timetable yet as to when the two parties will come to an agreement, but Bryant is optimistic that negotiations with the MNA will occur at some point
“We always have to,” said Bryant. “They’ve been a great partnership with us, so sooner or later we will come to some type of agreement.”
