Coronavirus: 'Dangerous Staff Cuts' At Saint Vincent, Nurses Warn

WORCESTER, MA — Nurses at Worcester's Saint Vincent Hospital are warning that the hospital's corporate owner may furlough or cut staff amid the coronavirus outbreak.

Nurses represented by the Massachusetts Nurses Association (MNA) union have been negotiating with Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare, which owns the hospital, over plans to implement furloughs. Those talks broke down on Wednesday when Tenet told the nurses the furloughs would move ahead, according to the MNA.

Saint Vincent nurse Marlena Pellegrino previously told Patch that nurses have been trying to get Tenet to boost protections amid the pandemic. One item on the union's list was to reduce "flex" scheduling, which allows Saint Vincent to cancel nurses' shifts due to staffing demands. Nurses who work in parts of the hospital that have been reduced due to coronavirus — like elective surgeries — should be sent to work in the ICU or emergency room, Pellegrino said.

On April 10, Tenet told nurses that it would begin mandatory furloughs, according to the MNA. The nurses began negotiating a plan that included possible voluntary furloughs, but one sticking point was how nurses would be used in different parts of the hospital. For example, a nurse who doesn't normally work in the ICU should serve as backup for ICU nurses, the union has asked.

“Tenet management’s response to our concerns, their refusal to agree to providing nurses with widely accepted policies to keep our patients safe, and their attempt to bully us into accepting this dangerous plan is reprehensible,” Pellegrino said in a statement on Thursday.

There were 80 coronavirus patients at Saint Vincent as of Wednesday, according to state figures, including 18 people in the ICU.

Tenet operates about 65 hospitals across the U.S., including the two MetroWest Medical Center Hospitals, Framingham Union and Leonard Morse in Natick. It also owns another 500 medical facilities across the nation.

The company has already furloughed about 500 non-medical employees due to the coronavirus downturn, according to reports. At the same time, the company has said it has about $350 million in cash on hand, and foresees additional revenue coming from the federal stimulus bill and the sale of a hospital in Memphis.

Tenet's stock price dropped to the lowest point in five years on March 18 at $11, but has been trading higher since the beginning of April, closing at just under $20 on Wednesday. As of Sept. 30, Saint Vincent was operating at a 10.3 percent profit margin, according to state records.