St. Vincent Hospital Cutting Services, Nurses Call It A 'Ploy'

WORCESTER, MA — Blaming the ongoing nurses strike, leaders at the for-profit St. Vincent Hospital in Worcester will begin cutting back services on Monday, officials announced Wednesday.

The Massachusetts Nurses Association responded to the move by calling it an intimidation tactic, and highlighting that St. Vincent's parent company, Dallas-based Tenet Health, earned some $120 million in profit in the second quarter — including a $24 million federal stimulus payment.

"This is just another ploy by Tenet to threaten the safety of the public and to intimidate our nurses, at a time when we have been working in good faith to resolve this dispute for the good of all in our community," nurse and union leader Marlena Pellegrino said in a news release.

The hospital blamed the nurses for prolonging negotiations. The two sides came together last Thursday and Friday, but did not reach a resolution. The nurses are mainly demanding an increase in nurse staffing levels across the hospital.

"Their irresponsible decisions are now putting healthcare access for central Massachusetts residents in jeopardy as the hospital is forced to make extremely difficult choices," a hospital news release said Wednesday.

St. Vincent Hospital will maintain a full emergency department, but will cut 80 inpatient beds, reduce surgical capacity by about 30 percent, cut 10 psychiatry beds and temporarily close the wound care and cardiac rehabilitation offices.

The hospital previously announced it had begun hiring replacement nurses to take over for workers who are out on strike. The strike will reach its 150th day the same day the service cuts take effect.