Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - Several nurses from Erie County Medical Center (ECMC) gathered outside the hospital campus on Wednesday, holding signs, marching and chanting as they detailed the fight for safety and a fair contract with hospital leaders.
After more than eight months at the bargaining table, New York State Nursing Association (NYSNA) members from ECMC and Terrace View Long-Term Care are calling on hospital administrators to start negotiating in good faith to address workplace safety concerns, and invest in nurse recruitment and retention efforts to ensure safe patient care.
"Eight months of contract go arounds with answers like, 'We have to cost it out.' Well, while you're at it, cost out the quality of care, the safety of patients and your inability to recruit. Cost out the trauma patient or the psychiatric patient in need. Cost out the Terrace View patients who have 63 nurses for 370 patients. Cost out the nurse that has to sit at the bedside resuscitating your loved one, and cost out the emotional toll it takes when you can't save them. Cost out the CEO's salary while you're at it, then maybe, maybe you can come back to the table correct with proposals that reflect what our patients and fellow nurses deserve," said Lona DeNisco, a registered nurse in ECMC's emergency room.
"Do what's right, ECMC. Workplace safety, retiree health care, adhering to staffing laws, wages that attract and retain. We're not going to leave, we're not going to stop, we're not going to acquiesce. We're going to continue to protect our patients, and we're going to continue to protect each other."
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The original contract between NYSNA nurses and ECMC expired back on Dec. 31, 2022, but nurses are currently working on an extension of that deal until both parties can agree on a new contract.
Nurses have been waiting for hospital administration to come forward with proposals that shows its staff respect, and shows they care about not only the employees, but the patients and population the hospital serves. Nurses like John Batson feel hospital administration has shown a lack of vision both at the bargaining table and on nursing units.
"We need true leadership from ECMC. In the military, they teach you to lead by example. One of the things that we've seen here is the officers here, the executives here, they don't lead by example. They eat first, while the enlisted people, or the workers, eat last. That's not the way to lead any organization. It's not right at all," said Batson on Wednesday. "What we're asking for is for them to come to the table with proposals that we can accept and that shows us respect, and we're seeking to ask our leaders to not eat first, but eat last and take care of their people and the people that take care of them."
Nurses say the hospital has refused to discuss many issues they have brought up in negotiations, and have failed to act as a partner in contract talks. This includes instances of arriving late to negotiation sessions, or only responding to a select few items nurses are asking for at a time.
"Some of the items that we have tried to discuss are as follows: Patient and workplace safety in this hospital. Simply put, we want to implement weapons screening methods. Recruitment and retention of nurses to avoid the staffing crisis like the one we just literally witnessed in the last few years. Our community education incentives, as well. We want to improve patient care. We want to expand access to public health education centered around vaccines in the wake of what we literally just had as a global pandemic," said Crystal Knihinicki, a registered nurse in the medical ICU at ECMC.
"ECMC is a safety net hospital, and a Level 1 trauma center. The patients we have are from marginalized backgrounds, and as a safety net hospital, we do not turn anyone away. So for some, we are the only ones they come to. Nurses here are fighting for them, for the patients of an underserved community to be able to provide our patients with the care that each and every one of them deserves."
John Bartimole currently serves as a health consultant, but once served as the President of the WNY Healthcare Association, of which ECMC was, and is a member. He says you can't blame nurses or any healthcare worker for wanting safer conditions on the job, but on the other hand, he doesn't know of any hospital CEO or board member that doesn't want to provide those safe conditions and a fair contract for staff members.
"The devil is always in the detail, though, and I think that's where they are now. It's trying to figure out, where is that safe middle ground?," said Bartimole in a conversation with WBEN. "I think we just saw that with the debt negotiations, the debt ceiling. Like somebody said, 'What does it mean when both sides don't get everything they want?' And they said, 'That's negotiation.' That's where they probably are right now."
When it comes to the current nursing situation right now at ECMC, and for that matter, across the region, state and nation, Bartimole says there is not enough staffing to properly go around.
"Nurses are overtaxed, nurses are worked to the ends of their patience, and it's because we simply do not have enough nurses," he said. "The other problem is the nursing population is aging out. We have so many nurses who retire, so many nurses who don't like to work hospitals. They go to physician's offices, where certainly the lift isn't as bad. So there are a lot of factors that come into this, but they all add up to just not enough professionals to do the job."
Western New York has recently seen its fair share of battles between nursing unions and other representation against hospital administrations over negotiations for fair contracts and other measures. Catholic Health and Kaleida Health are two recent examples of nurses that fought the healthcare system for new deals for nurses and other staff for hospitals across the region.
ECMC is the only Level 1 trauma care center in Western New York, which means the nurses and staff at the hospital often take in some of the worst cases anyone would ever see come through their doors. Bartimole believes that has to be an added factor for nurses when they go to the negotiating table with hospital leadership.
"I think every hospital has its share of some trauma, but not to the degree that ECMC has being a Level 1 trauma center. You see the worst-of-the-worst there," Bartimole said. "That's got to be very difficult emotionally, as you see these kinds of cases day-after-day-after-day. My hat goes off to the nurses, the PAs and the physicians who treat these individuals day-after-day-after-day."
On top of dealing with some of the worst cases or trauma at the hospital on a regular basis, staff at the hospitals have to also worry about safety concerns when it comes to instances of violence inside the medical campus.
"Just recently, we had one of our co-workers who was violently kicked into a wall by a patient," Batson detailed. "After she injured her back, she requested to press charges against the person that perpetrated the crime. However, she was told that because she didn't have a visible injury, there would be no prosecution of this person. So nurses at ECMC have literally become punching bags. Returning to work for her made things just impossible for her, as well as the rest of us.
While nurses recently won an important workplace safety demand when the hospital tentatively agreed to install metal detectors to prevent weapons from entering the facility, administrators continue to demonstrate a lack of willingness to engage with nurses on crucial issues such as nurse recruitment and retention and safe staffing.
"Let's face it, hospitals, in my estimation, are among the most vulnerable of places. You just walk into a hospital. What other place can you just walk into like that, that you wreak havoc? I mean, what, the library, maybe? Who knows. Even there, they have safeguards. But hospitals, I think hospitals are very, very vulnerable places," Bartimole addded.
Officials at ECMC released a statement on Wednesday following Wednesday's speak out by nurses outside the medical campus:
"We continue to negotiate in good faith, making progress with NYSNA and recently agreed with NYSNA to introduce a mediator to the process. In fact, over the past eight months, over 30 negotiation sessions and other labor meetings have been held with NYSNA. ECMC continues to lean forward to support our nurses and all clinical staff. Most notably providing a 7.75% increase in 2022 for nurses and achieving a staffing plan with increases that was signed off by NYSNA in 2022. These collaborative efforts have been successful with the hiring of 360 nurses in 2022 and 2023, which represents over 25% of our RN workforce, resulting in only 14 agency nurses for night shifts in the hospital. ECMC also recruited almost 1,400 total new employees during this same time. It is very unfortunate NYSNA would target our annual Foundation event, which is organized by volunteers and raises about $500,000 for patients and scholarships for nurses and other staff. The 1,950-person event will also include nearly 600 ECMC employees, including employees sponsored by NYSNA. Our goal remains to achieve a contract agreement with NYSNA that is fair and benefits all of the parties in this process, while ensuring that high-quality patient care remains our highest priority at ECMC."
As ECMC President and CEO Tom Quatroche plans a gala on Saturday, June 3, nurses are demanding he invest in patients’ health and safety instead of parties by prioritizing safety for healthcare workers and the community.
When asked whether there were any plans to take this matter to the gala, nurses said they were not against it if they were pushed to it.
When it comes down to it, Bartimole hopes that both ECMC and its nursing staff are able to get all that they ask for with a new contract.
I think the reality is, both sides, as I said earlier, no one's gonna get what they want. As the Rolling Stones taught us, you can't always get what you want. But if you try, you just might get what you need. Let's hope both sides get what they need," he said.