Concord Chamber Announces Opposition to Nurse Staffing Question

The Concord Chamber of Commerce, members of which include Emerson Hospital along with numerous eldercare facilities, and rehabilitation centers, and doctor’s offices, today joined the Coalition to Protect Patient Safety in opposition to the proposed nurse staffing ballot question.

“Families across Massachusetts are already struggling to pay for health care,” said Jane Obbagy, Executive Director of the Concord Chamber of Commerce. “This initiative threatens the vitality of Emerson Hospital, as well as Concord’s smaller doctor’s offices and healthcare facilities that so many residents rely on.”

The ballot question, proposed by the Massachusetts nurses union, which represents less than a quarter of nurses in the Commonwealth, would require that hospitals across the state, no matter their size or specific needs of their patients, adhere to the same rigid nurse staffing ratios within all patient care areas. The petition does not make allowances for rural or small community hospitals, holding them to the same staffing ratios as major Boston teaching hospitals.

“It's not fair for patients. It's not fair for nurses, you're questioning nurses, you're telling them what they should do versus letting them make that decision,” said Tommi Gill-Sammet, RN at Emerson Hospital. “You can never apply a one-size-fits-all to nursing. Staffing has to be decided by who's there, and who's working at the time and what the patient needs. The only one who can make that decision is the nursing and medical staff.”

This measure would cost the state more than $800 million each year, and those costs will be felt across the healthcare system. Patients would feel it in the form of higher premiums, deductibles and taxes at a time when many Massachusetts families are already struggling to pay for healthcare. Hospitals will be forced to cut vital health programs, such as cancer screenings, opioid treatments, mental health services, early childhood intervention, domestic violence programs and pre- or post- natal care.

An active participant in the Concord community for more than 25 years, the Concord Chamber of Commerce takes public positions on issues which affect the business community, while representing the culture and character of the town at large. The Concord Chamber of Commerce joins the American Nurses Association Massachusetts, the Organization of Nurse Leaders, the Massachusetts Health and Hospital Association, the Massachusetts Council of Community Hospitals, the Conference of Boston Teaching Hospitals, and other healthcare leaders in protecting the state’s healthcare system and its patients from the consequences of this rigid, costly mandate that is expected to be placed before voters in the November 2018 election.

Learn more about the Coalition to Protect Patient Safety atwww.Facebook.com/ProtectPatien... and www.Twitter.com/MAPatientSafet...