Talks Between St. Vincent Nurses and Dallas-Based Tenet Healthcare End Today With the Federal Mediator Ending the Session, Offering the Option of Elevating the Process to Mediation on a National Level in Washington D.C. to Help Find a Resolution to End the Five-Month Strike

Nurses accepted the offer, but Tenet has refused to participate in the process, continuing its efforts to prolong the strike, place patients in jeopardy and to avoid accountability for providing safer staffing levels sought by the nurses

News provided by

Massachusetts Nurses Association

Aug 03, 2021, 15:34 ET

WORCESTER, Mass., Aug. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The St. Vincent Hospital nurses met with Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare for negotiations for the second day today, with the mediator ending the session, after offering both parties the option of elevating the process to mediation on a national level in Washington, D.C. to help find a resolution to end the five-month strike (149 days).

While the nurses accepted the offer, Tenet has refused to participate in the process, continuing its efforts to prolong the strike, placing patients in jeopardy and avoiding accountability to provide safe staffing levels sought by the nurses.

"We are always open to any opportunity that can move this process towards a positive outcome that will protect our patients, our community and our nurses," said Marlena Pellegrino, RN, a longtime nurse at the hospital and co-chair of the nurses' local bargaining unit with the Massachusetts Nurses Association. "We are disappointed that Tenet continues to put a concern for profits over a concern for the care and dignity of the patients we care for at St. Vincent Hospital."

The St. Vincent Hospital nurses and Tenet met on Monday, where Tenet presented a "disappointing" proposal that failed to provide what the nurses need to end the strike, a proposal that the membership voiced strong opposition to at a meeting held last night.

As the strike is in its 22nd week, last week Tenet reported profits of more than $120 million for the second quarter of 2021, after posting a profit of $97 million during the first quarter for a total profit for the year of more than $217 million. Since the strike began, Tenet has spent more than $100 million to prolong the nurses strike at St. Vincent Hospital, a fraction of which would have funded the staffing improvements the nurses are seeking.

For more background on the strike and the issues involved, click here to learn more.

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Founded in 1903, the Massachusetts Nurses Association is the largest union of registered nurses in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Its 23,000 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