Worcester Nurses Protest Over Pandemic Working Conditions

WORCESTER, MA — A large group of nurses held an informational picket outside Saint Vincent Hospital in Worcester Tuesday to draw attention to issues like staffing cuts and the availability of personal protective equipment as the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic builds.

Over 100 nurses and supporters lined Summer Street between Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Bridge Street for two hours holding signs and drawing honks and waves from drivers.

"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," Saint Vincent nurse and union negotiator Marlena Pellegrino said in a statement. "Now we are taking to the streets with this picket 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."

The hospital's nurses, represented by the Massachusetts Nursing Association union, have been negotiating with Saint Vincent leaders for over a year on a new contract. The two sides are set to come together at the bargaining table in mid-December with the help of a federal mediator.

Last spring, Saint Vincent owner Tenet Healthcare began furloughing employees across the country to cut costs as the company's hospitals stopped offering elective surgeries and other revenue-generating services. Tenet turned a profit during the spring coronavirus surge, and received hundreds of million from the federal stimulus, but was not as profitable as the same period in 2019.

A Saint Vincent spokesperson called Tuesday's demonstration "inflammatory and misleading."

"Our staffing guidelines are appropriate, and more generous than most other hospitals in the state," the hospital's statement about the demonstration said. "We have appropriate personal protective equipment, and our COVID-19 response plan remains in place. We value all of our employees, and a picket does not change this. In fact, our current proposal to the union, one of the best in ten years, includes a substantial wage increase and revised wage scale for nurses. We want to get an agreement finalized so we can implement these as soon as possible."

Saint Vincent nurses say they are being forced to reuse supplies like N95 masks multiple times, and want the hospital to reduce the number of patients a nurse is caring for at one time from five to three. The nurses have also been calling for an end to "flex" staffing, which allows managers to cancel nurses' shifts due to staffing demands.

The MNA says about 100 nurses have left Saint Vincent over the past eight months due to work conditions.

Coronavirus cases are rising in Worcester, and hospitalizations are also increasing. As of Nov. 25, 126 people were hospitalized with the virus between Saint Vincent and the UMass hospitals, and another 37 people were in intensive care. One month ago, only 35 people were being treated for COVID-19 between the two hospitals.