Health & Fitness
Saint Vincent Nurses To Picket Daily Over Coronavirus Safety
The hospital's nurses are in a dispute with Saint Vincent leaders over safety conditions during the second virus surge.
WORCESTER, MA — Nurses who work at Worcester's Saint Vincent hospital will begin protesting daily to draw attention to a safety conditions during the second surge of the coronavirus pandemic.
The hospital's nurses want owner Tenet Healthcare to agree to increase staffing levels, they also want better access to personal protective equipment and better pay and benefits.
"We have tried for months to convince our administration and the Tenet corporation to provide us with the resources we need to keep the public safe, yet they only make things worse," nurse Marlena Pellegrino said in a statement. "Now we are taking to the streets once again, this time on a daily basis, to alert the public and the community of our concerns as they have the most to lose if Tenet doesn’t alter its dangerous practices — our patients lives are on the line."
READ: Worcester Nurses Protest Over Pandemic Working Conditions
As of Jan. 4, Saint Vincent was caring for 70 coronavirus patients, including 15 in the intensive-care unit, according to state Department of Public Health data.
The hospital has said it offered the nurses "one of the best" new contracts in a decade, including wage increases. The Saint Vincent nurses held a large demonstration on Dec. 1 where several hundred lined up along Summer Street holding signs. The Massachusetts Nurses Association union said nurses have met with hospital leaders three times since that protest, but have not been satisfied with the results.
A Saint Vincent spokesperson said Wednesday the hospital has offered increases ranging from 17 to 23 percent for about half of the over 700 MNA nurses, plus bonuses for nurses who work more than the hours they're scheduled. The hospital also disputed that nurses do not have access to enough personal protective equipment.
"Rather than respond to the hospital’s proposals, the union provided the hospital with a second picketing notice, and continues its tactic of disseminating inflammatory and misleading rhetoric to try to advance their position in those discussions," the hospital's statement said.
The daily pickets will take place from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. at the hospital's Summer Street entrance.
