John Howell, Warwick Beacon, September 15, 2009 Unhappy with their contract and claiming the union failed to deliver what they expected, a group of Kent Hospital nurses continues to gather signatures in efforts to conduct a de-authorization vote. “We’re getting there. We’re very optimistic,” says Jeanette Geary, an emergency department nurse, who started the drive only days after United Nurses & Allied Professionals Local 5008 negotiated its first contract with Kent. Nurses voted in the union last October, which the union hailed at the time as a victory for the nurses. ... Nurse

United Nurses & Allied Professionals, December 15, 2008 On Friday, December 12, the RI Hospital UNAP re-elected President Linda McDonald, RN to serve for a new, three-year term. Linda defeated Respiratory Therapist Mike Martin by a total of 401 to 201. In an email following the vote, Linda thanked all RI Hospital UNAP members, as well as the election committee that oversaw the voting, and committed herself to working to improve conditions for all UNAP members. She urged all members to get involved to make the UNAP as strong as it can be.

Joseph Fitzgerald, Woonsocket Call, December 4, 2008 North Smithfield - A transaction to convert ownership of the Landmark Medical Center-owned Rehabilitation Hospital of Rhode Island on Eddie Dowling Highway to a Missouri-based company that provides physical rehabilitation program management services has collapsed after the company withdrew from the deal on Thursday. Back in March, the Department of Health and Attorney General’s Office received an application for a sale of the ownership of the hospital from RehabCare Hospital Holdings and Landmark Medical Center doing business as Northern Rhode Island Rehab Management Associations (NRIRMA). ... Missouri

United Nurses & Allied Professionals, October 24, 2008 Registered Nurses at Kent Hospital in Warwick, Rhode Island voted yesterday by a count of 290 to 214 to join the UNAP, the largest health care union in RI. It was the largest union organizing victory in RI since RI Hospital nurses and techs voted to join the UNAP in 1993. Deborah Almeida, a 27-year Kent Hospital nurse, expressed jubilation at the results of the election. "In recent years, Kent has become like a big business and staff morale has been low. But, now, by being organized, we have a tremendous opportunity to improve conditions for nurses and for patients." ... Kent

United Nurses & Allied Professionals, October 2, 2008 Nurses at Our Lady of Fatima Hospital, members of the United Nurses & Allied Professionals, voted overwhelmingly today to approve a new contract agreement. The vote was 200 to 3. “We set two goals for ourselves in this round of negotiations: to improve staffing and to secure a competitive wage and benefit package,” said Lynn Blais, a Registered Nurse and President of the Local. “With the unwavering support of our membership and allies, we were able to achieve both.” ... Fatima

United Nurses & Allied Professionals, July 31, 2008 Nurses at Fatima Hospital, a proud Catholic institution, take pride in the compassionate, quality care that they give to their patients. But the nurses have lost faith in the the hospital's administration. It seems that Bishop Tobin and Fatima's Board of Director are drifting away from their primary mission to provide quality care. Over the past 3 1/2 years, nurses have filed over 400 complaints about potentially unsafe staffing situations at Fatima Hospital - over 100 in the past six months alone! ... Keep

United Nurses & Allied Professionals, July 16, 2008 Landmark Medical Center has served the people of Northern Rhode Island since 1873 when it was founded as Woonsocket Hospital “for the relief, cure and general care of the sick.” Landmark Medical Center has the third busiest emergency room in the State. Landmark provides essential medical services to the community and has been recognized by the RI Department of Health as one of the most cost-effective hospitals in Rhode Island.  Landmark also serves as an economic engine to northern Rhode Island, providing good jobs to more than 1,000 employees. Yet, largely because of inadequate payment for the services it provides, Landmark Medical Center is in dire financial condition. ... Save

Felice J. Freyer, Providence Journal, July 8, 2008 The state health director is asking health-care organizations to avoid recruiting staff from the struggling Landmark Medical Center. Dr. David R. Gifford sent a memo to presidents and chief executive officers of hospitals, home health agencies, community health centers and nursing homes in Rhode Island asking them to refrain from recruitment at Landmark, a Woonsocket hospital that is in a financial crisis. In an interview yesterday, Gifford called the memo a preventive measure, given the uncertainty about Landmark’s future and the efforts to keep it afloat. ... State

Felice J. Freyer & Paul Grimaldi, Providence Journal, July 6, 2008 The lawyer appointed by Superior Court to take control of the financially ailing Landmark Medical Center says he plans no immediate changes in the functioning of a hospital that he calls “a pretty well-run institution.” To stabilize the Woonsocket hospital’s finances, Jonathan N. Savage, the court-appointed “special master,” stopped paying vendors for services provided before June 26, the date he was appointed. For services provided since his appointment, however, all vendors will be paid on time. ... Hospital

Joseph Fitzgerald, Woonsocket Call, June 26, 2008 Woonsocket - After a more than five-hour hearing in Providence County Superior Court Thursday, Judge Michael A. Silverstein granted Landmark Medical Center's request for a court-appointed special master to oversee the financial and day-to-day operations of the beleagured hospital which now appears on the brink of collapse. Late yesterday afternoon, Silverstein approved a petition filed by Landmark's lawyers to designate Pawtucket lawyer Jonathan N. Savage - who specializes in receiverships - as the special master for the financially distressed hospital. The appointment takes effect immediately. ... Court

Associated Press, April 19, 2008 Providence - Nurses and other unionized workers at Butler Hospital have ratified a new three-year contract. The deal includes pay raises of 4 percent, 4.25 percent and 4 percent over the next three years. It also limits the use of so-called "travel nurses," or nurses who work for outside staffing agencies. The union had accused hospital management of using the temporary nurses to fill vacancies, rather than hiring permanent workers. Members of the union representing nearly 300 nurses, mental-health workers and other employees had voted to strike if their contract demands were not met. A deal was struck late Wednesday night. Butler is a 117-bed private psychiatric and substance-abuse treatment facility.

Paul Grimaldi, Providence Journal, April 19, 2008 Butler Hospital’s unionized staff yesterday ratified a new three-year contract that includes annual pay raises and limits the use of “travel” nurses, whose use has been a nettlesome factor for the psychiatric center’s employees. Members of the union representing nearly 300 nurses, mental-health workers and other employees had voted to strike if their contract demands were not met. The members of District 1199, the New England Health Care Employees Union/SEIU picketed the hospital Monday to call attention to the contract issues. The nurses had been working under an extension of a three-year contract since March 31. ... Butler

Paul Grimaldi, Providence Journal, April 18, 2008 Providence - Butler Hospital and the union representing nurses and other workers at the East Side psychiatric facility reached a tentative contract agreement late Wednesday, averting a threatened strike. Members of the union representing nearly 300 nurses, mental-health workers and other employees had voted earlier in the week to strike starting yesterday morning if their contract demands were not met. The members of District 1199, the New England Health Care Employees Union/SEIU picketed the hospital earlier in the week to call attention to the contract issues that remained unresolved at that point. ... Butler

Felice J. Freyer, Providence Journal, July 14, 2007 Dozens of union members picketed outside Women & Infants Hospital yesterday to protest the hiring of three “traveling nurses” to fill empty shifts in the neonatal intensive-care unit. The traveling nurses work for an agency that provides temporary nurses to hospitals. The hospital hired the three nurses for 12 weeks starting June 18, but so far only one was needed to fill a single, 12-hour shift in the neonatal intensive-care unit, according to Paula Gillette, senior vice president for patient-care services. Otherwise they have been standing by, working administrative duties. Gillette said that the hospital did not have serious staffing problems, but she feared that some shifts would be hard to fill in the NICU. She said she hired the travelers to make sure there would be no mandatory overtime. ... Dozens

Elizabeth Gudrais, Providence Journal, June 30, 2007 Providence - Governor Carcieri angered and disappointed nurses across the state yesterday with his veto of a bill that would bar hospitals from forcing nurses to work overtime. “I think we’re all feeling kind of crushed,” said Barbara Hunger, a registered nurse at Women & Infants Hospital. Hunger said she and a group of nurses had met with the governor’s policy staff a day earlier to urge him to sign the bill rather than merely letting it become law without his signature, as he does with the vast majority of bills. Hunger said they knew a veto might be in the cards, but had remained optimistic. ... Nurses