MNA: Mercy Medical Center Nurses to Hold Informational Picket in Springfield on October 17 as Nurses Fight for Safe Patient Care Conditions and Against Trinity Health's Attempt to Erode Union Protections

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Oct 17, 2024, 09:29 ET

Michigan-based Trinity Health, a national hospital corporation, has created unsafe staffing and patient care conditions at Mercy Medical Center while attempting to remove union RN benefits and protections

SPRINGFIELD, Mass., Oct. 17, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Registered nurses at Mercy Medical Center, represented by the Massachusetts Nurses Association, will hold an informational picket outside the hospital on October 17 in response to corporate owner Trinity Health seeking to worsen the already extremely challenging working conditions of Mercy nurses and remove union benefits and protections – rather than make much-needed investments in the RN workforce so nurses can provide high-quality care to Springfield area patients.

Informational Picket Details
When: Thursday, October 17 from 12 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Where: On the sidewalk outside Mercy Medical Center on Carew Street in Springfield.
Who: Nurses, colleagues, and community supporters will picket and talk to the public about how Trinity Health is jeopardizing patient care quality and access by mistreating Mercy nurses.

"Mercy nurses will join together and with the community on October 17^th to show Trinity Health we are standing up for respect and safe patient care," said Jaime Hyatt, RN, Co-Chair of the Mercy Medical Center MNA Bargaining Committee. "Nurses are being pushed beyond our ability to safely care for our patients. We are fighting back against Trinity's attempts to erode our union protections and benefits to make sure Mercy has the nurses we need to provide high-quality care to our community."

"Our working conditions are increasingly unsafe and unsustainable, and our wages are falling behind, making it harder to recruit and retain nurses," said Dee Doyle, RN, Co-Chair of the Mercy Medical Center MNA Bargaining Committee. "With such a challenging care environment, and because nurses feel disrespected and undervalued, we cannot properly recruit and retain. We are seeking to break this damaging cycle that endangers patients and staff."

"An example of Mercy's retention problems is its decision to bring on a significant number of new nurses using a signing bonus," Doyle said. "Once the bonus is complete, and they can leave, they often do because of how unsafe the patient assignments are and how management increases them at any time. It is clear management has little regard for the safety of staff and patients. They do not provide breaks and float nurses all over the hospital – all contributing to nurses leaving."

Financial Growth at Trinity Health

In May 2024, Trinity put out a public statement titled: "Trinity Health, one of the largest faith-based health care organizations in the nation, reports excess of revenue over expenses growth of 47.3 percent or $404.9 million to $1.3 billion for the first nine months of fiscal year 2024; net margin of 6.6 percent."

Trinity's 2024 financial highlights include:

Operating income of $69.8 million for the nine months ending March 31, 2024.
Growth in operating revenue of 11.4 percent or $1.8 billion to $17.8 billion in the first nine months of fiscal year 2024 compared to the same period in the prior fiscal year.
Total assets of $34.7 billion and net assets of $19.7 billion.
Excess of revenue over expenses of $1.3 billion, net margin of 6.6 percent, compared to excess of revenue over expenses of $856.3 million, net margin of 5.1 percent for the nine months ended March 31, 2023.

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Founded in 1903, the Massachusetts Nurses Association is the largest union of registered nurses in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Its 25,000 members advance the nursing profession by fostering high standards of nursing practice, promoting the economic and general welfare of nurses in the workplace, projecting a positive and realistic view of nursing, and by lobbying the Legislature and regulatory agencies on health care issues affecting nurses and the public.

SOURCE Massachusetts Nurses Association