MGB Home Care Clinicians Prepare to Return to Patients Following Seven-Day Strike; Fight for Fair First MNA Contract Continues

Clinicians return to caring for patients after concluding strike, will continue to press Mass General Brigham for a contract that protects safe care in patients' homes

BOSTON, July 14, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- MGB Home Care clinicians, represented by the Massachusetts Nurses Association (MNA), will return to caring for their patients as of 7:59 a.m. Wednesday, concluding a seven-day strike while pledging to continue fighting for a fair first MNA contract that protects patients and supports the clinicians who provide complex home care throughout eastern Massachusetts.

Approximately 450 clinicians, including registered nurses, physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech-language pathologists, social workers, and dietitians, have been bargaining with Mass General Brigham (MGB) for more than a year. They continue seeking safe caseloads, clear and enforceable productivity standards, and competitive wages that recruit and retain experienced caregivers.

"We will return to the patients and families who count on us every day with tremendous pride in what our clinicians accomplished together over the past week," said Shannon Viera, RN, Chair of the MGB Home Care MNA Bargaining Committee. "Our strike showed how deeply our clinicians care about protecting the quality of home care for our patients in the future. We are grateful to every patient, elected official, labor union, Brigham nurse, and community member who stood with us. That solidarity has strengthened our resolve to keep fighting until Mass General Brigham negotiates the fair first contract that our patients and clinicians deserve."

MGB Home Care clinicians provide highly skilled, hospital-level care in patients' homes, allowing many patients to recover safely while avoiding unnecessary hospitalizations. Clinicians perform wound care, administer IV medications, manage chronic diseases, provide rehabilitation following illness or surgery, and coordinate care across multiple providers. They also assess home safety, medications, nutrition, family support, and other factors that are essential to keeping patients healthy and independent. Working one-on-one in patients' homes, clinicians make complex clinical decisions without the immediate support available in a hospital setting.

A fair first contract is essential to reducing burnout and turnover, improving continuity of care, and ensuring patients receive the time and attention they need. The home care strike followed the conclusion of the Brigham and Women's Hospital nurses' strike and lockout earlier this week. Together, the two actions became the largest healthcare labor dispute in Massachusetts history, drawing widespread support from patients, healthcare workers, labor unions, elected officials, and communities across the Commonwealth.

Learn more about the negotiations at www.massnurses.org/MGB.

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Founded in 1903, the Massachusetts Nurses Association is the largest union of registered nurses in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Its 25,000 members advance the nursing profession by fostering high standards of nursing practice, promoting the economic and general welfare of nurses in the workplace, projecting a positive and realistic view of nursing, and by lobbying the Legislature and regulatory agencies on health care issues affecting nurses and the public.

SOURCE Massachusetts Nurses Association