Statement of Saint Vincent Hospital Refuting Claims by MNA as Shameless Negotiating Tactics

WORCESTER, Mass., April 8, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- "While we respect the right of Saint Vincent Hospital nurses to conduct a vote to give the Massachusetts Nurses Association authority to issue a 10-day strike notice, we are disappointed in the MNA's use of false and misleading information with the public in discussing the vote and contract negotiations.  While this vote does not guarantee that a strike will occur, it is clear evidence of the continued scare 'negotiating' tactics employed by the union and includes false assertions about the quality of care at Saint Vincent which was recognized just last week by Thomson Reuters as one of the country's top 100 hospitals.

Additional facts supporting our patient safety record are as follows:

• Our top 10% quality scores have improved every year as documented by several independent organizations including the Joint Commission, the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, and the Massachusetts Health Care Quality and Cost Council.
• We realized and sustained an 80% reduction in serious reportable events from 2008 through 2010.
• 95% of our nurses and hospital staff have participated in an in-depth safety training program.
• With leadership and action from our nurses, we decreased patient falls with serious injury by 80% with no patient sustaining a serious reportable event from a fall in 2010.
• We sustained top decile performance in hand washing to decrease hospital acquired infections.
• We have had a zero central line infections in a rolling twelve month period.

The vote underway today involves giving the nurses' negotiating committee authorization from its membership to call for a strike, only after providing the hospital with ten days advance notice.  It is unfortunate that the MNA did not use this same energy at the negotiation table to respond to the fair and comprehensive offer from Saint Vincent Hospital currently on the table that includes:

• Across the board increases to the staff nurse pay scale in 2011 and again in 2012;
• Further enhancement of the voluntary nurse:patient staffing ratios contained in the present contract including a proposal for a Resource Nurse who will have no assignment or a limited assignment who will be scheduled around peak times of day  to assist other nurses on the medical surgical and telemetry units where patients are constantly monitored with electronic devices such as heart and breathing monitors.

We are hopeful that the MNA comes back to the table for our scheduled negotiating session on April 13th with a meaningful response to our proposal and that we can come to mutually agreeable solution.  

In the event the MNA decides to actually conduct a future strike, Saint Vincent Hospital is prepared and has made all of the necessary arrangements for an alternative nurse staffing plan so our patients will experience uninterrupted care.  As evidenced by the recent recognition we received as one of the Top 100 Hospitals for quality and safety by Thomson Reuters, all of us at Saint Vincent Hospital are focused on continuing to provide high quality care to our patients and the community in a safe and compassionate environment."

Saint Vincent Hospital is a 348 bed acute care hospital located in the new Worcester Medical Center in Worcester, Massachusetts. Saint Vincent offers a variety of specialty care centers including laparoscopic surgery, cardiovascular medicine including open heart surgery, cancer medicine, family centered maternal and child health services, general and vascular surgery, modern intensive care centers, neurosurgery, psychiatric services, orthopedics, and advanced diagnostic services including an MRI. An extensive array of outpatient services including same day surgery, radiation oncology and a pain clinic are also available.

SOURCE Saint Vincent Hospital