BUFFALO (WBEN) - The deadline for negotiations is coming down to the wire, as healthcare workers at Mercy Hospital are preparing to strike beginning Friday morning.
For local healthcare staffing agencies such as Med-Core Staffing, this situation puts them in an unfortunate spot, according to Technical Recruiting Director Cory Downey.
"We understand that at some point clinicians have to put their foot down, so we get that the conditions need to be improved; the PPE supply needs to increase; but at the same time, healthcare can't just shut off," said Downey. "We're here to slide in and help where needed. We play both sides of the fence, and we try to do it appropriately."
To this point, Downey said Med-Core has not made efforts to reach out to Mercy Hospital because they're still trying to calculate their decision.
"We are put in the position where no matter what decision we make, someone's going to be unhappy about it," Downey continued. "In fact, we've even had an RN from Mercy Hospital that called us and specifically asked us not to do any staffing for Mercy Hospital, so it's a predicament for sure."
Downey noted that they would hear Mercy out if the hospital reached out to them.
Larry Zielinski, former president at Buffalo General, however, still believes an agreement will be reached prior to Friday morning's deadline.
"Strikes in hospitals, especially in New York State, are exceedingly rare," said Zielinksi. "Strike notices and contentious talk between a bargaining unit or organized labor and a health system, that's not unusual at all...that happens frequently, but actual strikes are exceedingly rare and they frequently go right to the bitter end.
"Each side of the negotiation is using maximum leverage to achieve their objectives in the negotiation," he continued. "It doesn't surprise me this is going to the bitter end."
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Zielinski discussed the idea of Mercy Hospital bringing in replacement healthcare workers during a potential strike, and he admitted that would be a bad case scenario for multiple reasons.
"It is a leverage point for the health system to say they can replace these nurses and other healthcare workers," said Zielinski. "They probably can find replacements from a certification standpoint, but in terms of familiarity with the hospital, the way the hospital operates, familiarity with patients, familiarity with physicians that are providing care, it cannot be replaced. It would be a very poor substitute for the normal staff."
