Nurses From 15 Minnesota Hospitals Vote To Authorize Strike

ST. PAUL, MN — On Monday, about 15,000 members of the Minnesota Nurses Association in the Twin Cities and Twin Ports voted "overwhelmingly" to authorize a strike, the union announced.

The vote means that nurse negotiation leaders can call a strike following a 10-day notice to hospital employers. Nurses across fifteen hospitals would be involved in the strike.

The nurses say they're overworked and hospitals are understaffed, and executive pay rates are harming patient care.

"Hospital executives with million-dollar salaries have created a crisis of retention and care in our healthcare system, as more nurses are leaving the bedside, putting quality patient care at risk," Mary C. Turner — an RN at North Memorial Hospital and the President of the Minnesota Nurses Association — said in a statement.

"Nurses do not take this decision lightly, but we are determined to take a stand at the bargaining table, and on the sidewalk if necessary, to put patients before profits in our hospitals."

The Twin Cities Hospitals Group — which represents Methodist, North Memorial, Fairview, and Children's Hospitals — told Patch that "We are disappointed that the nurses’ union rushed into a strike vote without exhausting all means of reaching an agreement at the table or agreeing to our request for mediation."

"We believe mediation is a helpful tool for finding common ground and mediation was mutually beneficial in our talks three years ago," the statement continues.

"We call on the nurses’ union again to agree to mediation and return to the table to negotiate with the hospitals in good faith."

The MNA said the following data shows how much more local hospital CEOs make when compared to the average registered nurse:

M Health Fairview, CEO James Hereford

• CEO pay: $3.5M
• Pay ratio to average nurse: 40 to 1
• Hospitals in the system: Riverside, Southdale, St. Joseph’s, St. John’s

Essentia Health, CEO David Herman

• CEO pay: $2.69M
• Pay ratio to average nurse: 38 to 1
• Hospitals in the system: St. Mary’s Duluth, St. Mary’s Superior

HealthPartners, CEO Andrea Walsh

• CEO pay: $2.4M
• Pay ratio to average nurse: 28 to 1
• Hospitals in the system: Methodist Hospital

Allina Health, CEO Lisa Shannon

• CEO pay: $1.76M
• Pay ratio to average nurse:21 to 1
• Hospitals in the system: Mercy, United, Unity, Abbott Northwestern

Children’s Hospitals, CEO Mark Gorelick

• CEO pay: $1.4M
• Pay ratio to average nurse: 17 to 1
• Hospitals in the system: Children's Minneapolis, Children’s St. Paul

North Memorial Hospital, CEO J. Kevin Croston

• CEO pay: $1.3M
• Pay ratio to average nurse: 16 to 1

St. Luke’s Hospital, Co-CEOs Eric Lohn and Nicholas Van Deelen

• Pay ratio to average nurse: $700K+
• Pay ratio to average nurse: 10 to 1