Jefferson Bucks Hospital Nurses Seek To Unionize

LOWER BUCKS COUNTY, PA — The 200 nurses at Jefferson Bucks Hospital have filed to unionize, citing "worsening working conditions" at the Langhorne hospital.

Over 200 nurses at Jefferson Bucks Hospital, Einstein Center One, and Jefferson Health Willowcrest have filed for two separate union elections with the National Labor Relations Board to form unions.

They say that bedside nurses across the state are alarmed by work conditions in their hospitals, citing understaffing, heavier workloads, and equipment and resource issues.

Jefferson Bucks nurses have filed to be an independent local within PASNAP, joining nurses at Lower Bucks Hospital and St. Mary’s Medical Center who are also unionized with PASNAP in Bucks County

“We’re organizing because Jefferson Bucks nurses are being asked every day to do more with less and less, and it’s getting harder and harder to feel like our concerns are actually being heard," said Ashley Bupp, an emergency room nurse at the hospital.

Jefferson Bucks Hospital has served Lower Bucks County residents since 1999. The 112-bed hospital offers an array of emergency, inpatient, outpatient, medical and surgical services.

"PASNAP has once again relied on a predictable campaign of misleading claims and public attacks designed to generate headlines rather than constructive solutions," Jefferson Health said in a statement to Patch. "While PASNAP focuses on promoting a narrative that serves its organizing efforts and ultimately, its own bottom line, Jefferson remains focused on supporting our nurses, caring for our patients, and meeting the health care needs of the communities we serve."

Nurses at Jefferson Bucks said their decision to unionize comes down to wanting a seat at the table, and a "strong collective voice" when it comes to patient care.

"A lot of decisions seem to be made around cutting costs without thinking about what that means for the nurses on the floor, our patients, or the community we take care of," Bupp said. "Instead of listening to us and fixing these issues, management is putting time and resources into trying to stop us from unionizing. If anything, that has made it even clearer why we need a voice in these decisions.”