NYSNA workers at UVM-CVPH speak out for safe staffing & fair contract

PLATTSBURGH | On Wednesday, April 29, New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) nurses and healthcare professionals at University of Vermont-Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital (UVM-CVPH) spoke out for a fair contract that protects safe patient care. According to NYSNA, understaffing is a widespread problem in the hospital and puts quality patient care at risk, but UVM-CVPH administration is trying to avoid accountability for safe staffing standards in the contract. Last year, according to the union, UVM-CVPH hospital administrators made the patient safety standards required by New York State's staffing law less safe in much of the hospital, over the objections of NYSNA members. At the bargaining table, the hospital does not want to be held accountable for safety standards at all. NYSNA members have proposed several solutions to address the hospital staffing crisis, but hospital management instead wants changes that only stand to make staffing worse. Healthcare workers and our allies called on UVM-CVPH to listen to those who care for this community and spoke out about current conditions and safety concerns. NYSNA members called attention to the crisis of understaffing at UVM-CVPH, especially in the medical-surgical units, where they say there are too few frontline caregivers to care for patients and nurses and healthcare professionals are often asked to care for more patients than deemed safe. NYSNA Eastern Regional Director and local NYSNA nurse leader Vicki Davis-Courson, RN, said, "Many of us are here because we are deeply concerned about patient safety, chronic understaffing, and the hospital's attempts to skirt the state staffing law and our contract. We need the hospital to be held accountable, and that's why we're fighting for safe staffing in our contract. If we don't ensure our contracts promote our patients' safety, who will?" NYSNA President Nancy Hagans, RN, BSN, CCRN, said, "UVM-CVPH nurses and healthcare professionals are a pillar of their community, and they are fighting for safe staffing for their patients. Plattsburgh and the surrounding communities deserve the best care possible, and that can only happen when there are enough nurses and healthcare professionals to care for patients. NYSNA nurses and healthcare professionals are united and are demanding that CVPH do the right thing and settle a fair contract that will protect care in the North Country." Nurses and healthcare professionals contend that winning a fair contract that delivers safe staffing will reduce burnout, improve worker retention, and ensure better patient outcomes. Following the Speak Out event, University of Vermont Health Network – Alice Hyde Medical Center (AHMC) and Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital (CVPH) President Michelle LeBeau said, "We share the commitment of the 913 people in our organization represented by the New York State Nurses Association to providing our patients with safe, high-quality care and respect their right to share their views. "We are dedicated to supporting the people who, every day, deliver the care our community needs and are an integral part of ensuring our community has access to care for generations to come. "Negotiations are an ongoing process of discussion, proposals and compromise and we believe that together, we can reach a fair and sustainable agreement for our patients, people and community. We look forward to continuing our work together to meet our community's health care needs today and well into the future." Hospital officials said more about the realities of rural healthcare and what's happening in Northern New York can be viewed in fuller context and with more information at Uvmhealth.org/NNYToday.

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NYSNA workers at UVM-CVPH speak out for safe staffing & fair contract

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