Pacific Business News (Honolulu), May 24, 2010 Registered nurses with the Hospice of Hilo on the Big Island have joined the Hawaii Nurses’ Association. The National Labor Relations Board certified the election May 12, HNA officials said Monday. The private nonprofit Hospice of Hilo employs nine nurses, according to Executive Director Brenda Ho. Established in 1983, it offers end-of-life or palliative care, bereavement services, counseling and advance directives planning to patients and families in north and south Hilo, Puna and Kau on the Big Island’s east side. ... Hospice

Pacific Business News (Honolulu), October 14, 2009 The Hawaii Nurses Association and North Hawaii Community Hospital have reached a tentative agreement on their first contract. Approximately 85 registered nurses at the Big Island hospital joined the union more than a year ago. Details of the new three-year agreement, which would be effective until September 30, 2012, were not disclosed. The hospital’s board of directors will review the agreement at its next meeting in November and the nurses still have to ratify it. The Hawaii Nurses Association represents approximately 4,000 registered nurses statewide. The private, nonprofit North Hawaii Community Hospital, located in Waimea, is managed by Texas-based Quorum Health Resources.

Pacific Business News (Honolulu), May 11, 2009 The Hawaii Nurses’ Association will establish a new nonprofit foundation called Rescue, which will offer financial help to nurses dealing with serious illness, injury or disability. The foundation, which will be managed entirely by the volunteer organization Nurses for Nurses, will be funded through donations and fundraising events. Rescue was formed after the nurses union saw many of its members with serious illnesses overwhelmed with medical bills after the funds from insurance and other sources ran out, the Hawaii Nurses’ Association said on Monday. ... Hawaii

Ken Kobayashi & Susan Essoyan, Honolulu Star-Bulletin, June 23, 2008 State law requires intermediate-care facilities for the mentally retarded with more than 15 beds to have full-time nurses on staff. Opportunities for the Retarded Inc. has 35 beds for patients who need that level of care, but there are no nurses on the staff. That is because each of the seven homes on its property is classified as a separate facility, although all services - from meals to rehabilitation - are provided centrally. ORI contracts with medical personnel to come in to provide health care. By contrast, the Arc in Hawaii employs three full-time nurses for its clients ... State

Charlotte Woolard, The Garden Island, December 31, 2006 Nurses walked out of Wilcox Memorial Hospital after contract negotiations broke down, setting up a picket line on June 24 that would last 126 days - longer than any other strike at the facility. Politicians, community members and union leaders paced the line with nurses, who called for the revision of the system by which the hospital determined staffing at the facility. The hospital stood its ground, with spokeswoman Lani Yukimura saying the staffing system met the needs of its patients. ... Retrospective

An official says no physicians will lose their jobs as part of the restructuring. Dave Segal, Honolulu Star-Bulletin, November 3, 2006 Kaiser Permanente Hawaii, unable to bridge the growing gap between its budget and expenses, plans to lay off up to 50 employees before the end of the year as part of a statewide restructuring. Hawaii's largest health-maintenance organization also warned its employees in an internal memo Wednesday that it anticipates more restructuring and cost-cutting next year. Kaiser said it was conducting an in-depth analysis of its jobs and services to make sure it was meeting the needs of its 225,000 members. ... Kaiser

Nurses head back to work next weekend. Charlotte Woolard, Garden Island, October 28, 2006 Nurses accepted the latest contract offer from Wilcox Memorial Hospital, ending a 126-day strike with a decisive vote that will have union members back at work as early as next Saturday, officials announced yesterday. “We’re really happy to be welcoming them back to work,” Lani Yukimura, Wilcox spokeswoman, said. Nurses said they looked forward to returning to work but fell short of a full endorsement of the contract. ... Nurses

Associated Press, October 28, 2006 Nurses at Kauai's Wilcox Memorial Hospital overwhelmingly ratified a new three-year contract, officially ending a four-month long strike. Eighty nurses approved the contract, while ten voted to reject it. Dozens apparently did not vote. They are union members of the Hawaii Nurses' Association. About 140 of the hospital's nurses have been striking since June, demanding that management boost the ratio of nurses caring for patients. ... Kauai

Kristen Consillio, Pacific Business News (Honolulu), October 27, 2006 Nurses at Wilcox Memorial Hospital on Kauai have ratified a new contract that will give them a 21 percent wage increase over three years. Nurses now make an average of $35 an hour. Nurses will receive an 8 percent increase next June 30; a 7 percent increase the following year; and a 6 percent increase on May 31, 2009, the day the new contract expires. The contract covers about 149 Wilcox nurses, though roughly 25 quit and took jobs elsewhere after nurses went on strike June 24. The new contract allows Wilcox to eliminate the positions of about a dozen licensed practical nurses. ... Kauai

Kauai Nurses Approve Contract. TheHawaiiChannel.com, October 27, 2006 Honolulu - The strike at Kauai's Wilcox Memorial Hospital ended on Friday after four months. Nurses ratified a new three-year contract, by a vote of 80 to 10. The hospital's 140 nurses have been on strike since June. It has been a long road for the nurses, who said patient safety has been their main goal. They said they held out to assure there are enough nurses to care for patients at the hospital. ... Strike

Associated Press, October 27, 2006 Honolulu - A union representing nurses at Kauai's Wilcox Memorial Hospital plans to announce today whether members ratified a new three year contract. About 140 of the hospital's nurses have been striking since June, demanding that management boost the ratio of nurses caring for patients at the facility. A vote in favor of the contract would allow the nurses to end their four-month long strike. The Hawaii Nurses Association plans to hold a meeting tomorrow at 10 AM, after which it will announce the vote result. ... Union

Nurses cast votes. Charlotte Woolard, Garden Island, October 26, 2006 Nurses voted yesterday on the latest contract offer from Wilcox Memorial Hospital, casting ballots that could end a four-month strike. The Hawai‘i Nurses Association will announce the results of the vote at a meeting with its membership this morning, said DQ Jackson, spokesman and a Wilcox nurse who retired during the standoff. ... Answer

Jan Tenbruggencate, Honolulu Advertiser, October 27, 2006 Lihu'e, Kaua'i - As many as a quarter of Wilcox Memorial Hospital's pre-strike nursing staff may not return to work there if nurses ratify their new contract, as they are expected to do. Nurses voted until 9 PM yesterday on the contract to end their four-month strike. The strike results were to be released today. The Hawai'i Nurses Association and the hospital both said they expected a strong vote in favor of the settlement. But for many nurses, employment at Wilcox Hospital is over. Emergency Room nurse DQ Jackson elected to resign. He is 62 and said he decided during the strike that he wants to move on to other things than nursing. ... Long

TheHawaiiChannel.com, October 26, 2006 Honolulu - Nurses at Wilcox Memorial Hospital on Kauai will be voting on a new contract on Thursday after being on strike for more than four months. Terms of the tentative settlement that was reached on Tuesday have not been made public yet. About 140 Wilcox nurses went on strike June 24 after failing to win concessions from management to put more nurses on staff. The nurse-to-patient ratio was the main sticking point. ... Kauai

Jan TenBruggencate, Honolulu Advertiser, October 25, 2006 Lihu'e, Kaua'i  - Striking nurses and Wilcox Memorial Hospital yesterday reached a tentative settlement to a strike that has lasted more than four months. Nurses will vote on the pact tomorrow. No details of the agreement were released, but in a joint statement issued by officials representing the Hawai'i Nurses Association and Wilcox said they expect that a proposed three-year contract will end the strike. Jon Carroll, the lead negotiator for the union, said the bargaining committee supports the agreement. ... Nurses