Colleen Quinn, State House News Service, January 25, 2012



Boston - Nurses from around the state, joined by a slew of legislators, urged passage of a nurse staffing law, saying they have battled too long for a bill they say would save patients’ lives.



Nurses say they are overworked, understaffed. Christine Lee, WWLP, January 25, 2012 Boston - Nurses and hospitals are battling over legislation on Beacon Hill. Nurses say that they are understaffed and overworked. They're supporting legislation that creates a procedure for set patient-to-nurse ratios, which would be established to preserve the health and safety of patients and nurses alike. But hospitals are fighting back, saying that providers shouldn't be restricted to "one-size-fits-all ratios or limits" on patient to nurse care. They are encouraging collaboration between hospitals, physicians and nurses to develop best practices that reward quality of care ... Fight

Frontline Caregivers Say State’s Mental Health System is Already in Shambles.
Shortage of Beds & Lack of Funding Jeopardize Patient Safety.
Proposed Closing Will Be Devastating for the State’s Most Vulnerable Residents. Massachusetts Nurses Association/National Nurses United, January 24, 2012 Taunton – The Massachusetts Department of Mental Health (DMH) informed members of the Massachusetts Nurses Association/National Nurses United (MNA/NNU) of their plan to close Taunton State Hospital, one of only six state operated mental health facilities in the state to care for people suffering from acute and chronic mental illness. ... State

Nurses and Patient Safety Advocates Will Testify in Support of the Measures that Will Save Thousands of Lives and Millions of Valuable Health Care Dollars. Massachusetts Nurses Association, January 23, 2012 The legislature’s Joint Committee on Health Care Finance will hold a public hearing on legislation that will improve the quality of patient care, save millions of health care dollars and prevent thousands of preventable infections and medical errors caused by poor RN staffing in the state’s acute care hospitals. The Patient Safety Act calls upon the Massachusetts Department of Public Health to set safe limits on the number of hospital patients a nurse is forced to care for at one time. ... Health

Massachusetts Nurses Association, January 19, 2012 The nurses of UMass Memorial Medical Center who  are represented by the MNA at the UMass University and UMass Memorial, Hahnemannn, Home Health and Hospice campuses cast an overwhelming vote tonight in favor of pursuing the formation of a single MNA local bargaining unit comprised of the 2,000 UMMMC  nurses.

Robert Weisman, Boston Globe, January 18, 2012 The nurses union that clashed with Tufts Medical Center and Steward Health Care System over the past eight months has ratified a 16-month contract for more than 3,000 registered nurses at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Under the agreement with the Harvard-affiliated Boston teaching hospital, members of the Massachusetts Nurses Association there will receive a 1 percent pay increase this year. In addition, nurses at the top of the pay scale will be given a lump sum 1 percent bonus, according to both parties. ... Nurses

Alex Spanko, Patriot Ledger, January 17, 2012 Canton - Donna Kelly-Williams won a second term as president of the Massachusetts Nurses Association in October, after overseeing a major change at the Canton-based union during her first two years in office. Two months after Kelly-Williams took the reins in October 2009, the association joined with two other nurses' unions to form National Nurses United, a Silver Spring, Maryland-based group that now represents 170,000 nurses across the country. The Arlington resident also helped advocate for a new state law, passed last year, that increased the penalties for patients who assault nurses. ... Canton

Jonathan Phelps, Lawrence Eagle-Tribune, January 6, 2012 Methuen - A labor union which represents nurses at the Holy Family Hospital has brought charges against the hospital's owner to the National Labor Relations Board claiming a nurse was wrongly fired in retaliation for her union organizing. In response to the Massachusetts Nurses Association/National Nurses United charges, the labor board has issued a formal complaint against Steward Health Care System, which calls for a hearing on the matter next month. The complaint also includes a second charge against Steward Health Care for preventing nurses from wearing buttons in support of the fired nurse, Mary Ramirez. She worked at Holy Family for 18 years.

Charles Winokoor, Taunton Daily Gazette, January 6, 2012 Taunton - The parent company of Taunton’s Morton Hospital will face a hearing next month before the National Labor Relations Board - on charges that it fired a nurse at another hospital last summer in retaliation for her having organized a union drive.

The NLRB has lodged a complaint alleging the Boston-based Steward Health Care Systems unlawfully fired 40-year nursing veteran Mary Ramirez - who had worked for 18 years at Holy Family Hospital in Methuen - after she led a successful drive to organize a union with the Massachusetts Nurses Association/National Nurses United (MNA/NNU). ... Steward

Hospital chain says she was dismissed was because of poor performance. Robert Weisman, Boston Globe, January 6, 2012 A complaint lodged by the National Labor Relations Board alleges that Steward Health Care System unlawfully fired a nurse at its Holy Family Hospital in Methuen in August for leading a union organizing drive, in a case that underscores the deterioration of once-warm relations between Steward and the Massachusetts Nurses Association. The complaint, issued December 29, also cited Steward for preventing other Holy Family nurses from wearing buttons during the summer in support ... Complaint

WBUR, January 5, 2012 Boston - The National Labor Relations Board has filed a formal complaint against Steward Health Care for firing a nurse involved in organizing a union. A spokesman for the Massachusetts Nursing (sic) Association, David Schildmeier, says Steward was trying to scare off other unions by punishing the nurse. “They have actually gone after her ability to practice her profession as a way to punish her simply for wanting a union in her facility and for doing nothing wrong,” he said. “That is just unconscionable behavior and it’s beyond the pale.” Steward Health Care says in a statement that the nurse was fired for medical errors, and that her union-organizing activities played no role in her dismissal.

For Illegal Firing of a Nurse at Holy Family Hospital & for Violations of Nurses’ Union Rights in an Attempt to Discourage Nurses’ Participation in the Union. This is the Third Complaint filed by the NLRB Against Cerberus-Steward Since Taking Over Control of More than 10 Hospitals in Massachusetts.
The Nurses’ Union Has Also Filed Dozens of Grievances Against the For-Profit Owner for Its Wanton Violation of Union Rights. Massachusetts Nurses Association, January 5, 2012
 Methuen – The National Labor Relations Board this week issued a formal complaint against Cerberus-Steward Health Care, citing the organization for its illegal firing of an exemplary long-term nurse at Holy Family Hospital ... National

Jon Chesto, Patriot Ledger, December 21, 2012 Big Sky Balloons & Searchlights has produced plenty of giant, inflatable rodents since the company first created Scabby the Rat for a Chicago union 21 years ago. The rats are by far the most popular protest balloon. But its Plainfield, Illinois, plant has also produced a giant “Greedy Pig” and a leering “Corporate Fat Cat.” However, this was the first time that company co-owner Peggy O’Connor can remember being asked to build a mythological creature – in this case, an evil three-headed dog named Cerberus. ... Forget

Chelsea Conaboy, Boston Globe, December 26, 2011 The Massachusetts Nurses Association and its parent union staged a protest in New York Tuesday afternoon, near the headquarters of the Steward Health Care system parent company Cerberus. The demonstration was meant to draw attention to what the union says are profit-driven decisions that compromise patient care. Union spokesman David Schildmeier said that the group had 108 people en route to the city from Greater Boston, and he expected about 150 more to show up there, including members of the national union and some Occupy Wall Street demonstrators. ... Cerberus

Marc Larocque, Taunton Daily Gazette, December 21, 2011

Taunton - Janet DeMoranville is standing up against a private equity investment firm that now owns Morton Hospital, where she has worked for 13 years, saying the company is more concerned about profits than patients. “They are just out to make money,” said DeMoranville, describing the motives of Cerberus, which has bought 10 hospitals in Massachusetts, including Morton, as part of Steward Health Care. “They don’t care how they do it, or what cuts they have to make to get it. They have to realize that health care is not a money-making business. It’s a patient care industry. That’s what it needs to be about.”