MNA: Newton-Wellesley Hospital Nurses to Hold Strike Authorization Vote and Informational Picket on October 22 as Nurses Fight Rising MGB Health Insurance Costs and Seek to Protect Patient Care with a Fair Contract

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Oct 22, 2024, 09:29 ET

MNA nurses at Newton-Wellesley Hospital will vote to authorize a one-day strike and will picket on Tuesday, October 22 to protest MGB's attempt to hike insurance costs and its refusal to invest in nurses and safe patient care

NEWTON, Mass., Oct. 22, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The registered nurses of Newton-Wellesley Hospital, represented by the Massachusetts Nurses Association (MNA), will hold a strike authorization vote and informational picket on Tuesday, October 22 as nurses confront the monopolistic practices of Mass General Brigham, the largest and wealthiest hospital system in New England.

Despite consistently securing the most significant financial gains of any Massachusetts hospital system and paying its top executives millions of dollars annually, MGB is attempting to force health insurance price hikes on nurses who provide the high-quality, complex patient care that allows MGB to thrive. NWH nurses are fighting back against MGB's attempt to worsen their health care access through negotiations for a new MNA contract that properly values their contributions.

"We are proud of the excellent care we provide patients but alarmed by Mass General Brigham's lack of respect for our nurses and its attempts to wield enormous power within the healthcare system to worsen our health insurance," said Nora Watts, NWH RN and Co-Chair of the MNA Bargaining Committee. "Newton-Wellesley Hospital nurses care for MGB patients, are paid by MGB, use MGB health insurance, and must visit MGB providers – a cycle that leads to more MGB profits and expansion. Our fight is for a fair contract that makes MGB invest more in nurses and patient care."

Strike Authorization Vote
When: Tuesday, October 22 from 6 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
What: A positive vote will give the NWH MNA bargaining committee authorization to schedule a strike if necessary. The committee would be required to give the hospital 10 days' notice.

Informational Picket
When: Tuesday, October 22 from 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Where: On the sidewalk outside the hospital.
Who: MNA nurses, family, friends, community supporters, and labor allies.
What: This is an informational picket, not a strike. Nurses can attend if they are not working, or on break.

"Our patients and the communities we serve should be troubled that MGB is taking essential resources and putting them into hospital executive salaries and empire building instead of nurses and bedside care," said Kathy Reda, NWH RN and Co-Chair of the MNA Bargaining Committee. "MGB should make sure nurses can affordably access health care and invest in recruitment and retention to protect patient care quality at Newton-Wellesley Hospital."

MGB Financial/Health Insurance Highlights

MGB is self-insured, meaning it funds its own health insurance plan but also collects the revenue. MGB publicly touts its growth in health insurance as part of its financial planning. In an August 2024 statement, MGB pointed to a $563 million (9%) increase in health plan premium revenue.

Before MGB self-branded its insurance plan it was Allways Health Partners and before that Neighborhood Health Plan. Originally, the plan's core business was providing Medicaid coverage to low-income residents. After the plan was acquired by then-Partners Healthcare, it changed names and sought to increase commercial presence, according to The Boston Globe.

"We expect to grow and compete with Blue Cross, Harvard Pilgrim, and Tufts in the market for the business that exists today," David Segal, then Neighborhood's chief executive told the Globe in 2018, "and we're going to be very assertive."

MGB made $579 million system-wide in profits during the fiscal period ending December 31, 2023, according to the Center for Health Information and Analysis.
Anne Klibanski, MGB's president and CEO, made a nearly 25% salary increase from 2020 to 2021, going from $4.3 million to more than $5 million. Klibanski now makes more than $6 million.
MGB is spending $2 billion expanding Mass General Hospital and Faulkner. MGB has also spent more than $200 million on construction at Salem Hospital. This follows construction of a $465 million HQ in Somerville and a reported $100 million MGB rebranding campaign.

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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