Nearly 15,000 nurses at several major New York hospitals have gone on strike, raising concerns about how staffing shortages are affecting the city’s health care system.
The strike, which began Monday morning, came as contract negotiations faltered after months of bargaining, according to the nurses’ union, the New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA). It affects some of the city’s major medical centers: Mount Sinai Hospital, Mount Sinai Morningside & West, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, and Montefiore Medical Center.
Here’s what to know about the situation.
Why did the nurses strike?
The strikers’ specific demands vary between the several institutions from which the nurses have walked out, but the nurses’ union said in general its members are demanding better staffing levels, health benefits, and protection from workplace violence.
“Hospital administration refuses to address our most important issues: the safety of patients and nurses,” NYSNA President Nancy Hagans said in a statement. press release. “It is shameful that the city’s wealthiest hospitals refuse to continue providing health care benefits to nurses on the front lines, refuse to safely staff our patients, and refuse to protect us from workplace violence.”
Hagans continued: “The nurses did not want to go on strike, but our bosses forced us to go on strike.”
However, hospital officials described some of the union’s demands as expensive and defended nurses’ salaries. A Mount Sinai spokesman said New York times That nurses there earn an average of $162,000 a year, and that NYSNA applications will raise that amount to $275,000 over three years.
Kenneth E. said: “The health care system is under financial siege,” Rasky, president of the Greater New York Hospital Association trade group, told The New York Times. times. “The union’s demands are so outrageous that there is no way they can compromise on what the union is asking for.”
What could a strike mean for patients?
On Friday, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul I fell Executive order in anticipation of the strike, declaring a “catastrophic emergency” in multiple counties in and around the city due to expected “severe staffing shortages,” which it said “are expected to impact the availability and delivery of care, threatening public health and safety.”
The order indicated that the pressure on hospitals may be exacerbated by the significant rise in influenza cases in recent weeks. New York City Department of Health I mentioned On Thursday, more than 128,000 flu cases had been recorded so far in the city since the start of flu season, amid a broader rise in both cases and hospitalizations due to a new type of influenza A called “subcategory K.” The department noted that the city saw a two-week decline in new cases after a record week in December, but warned New Yorkers that “flu season is not over yet.” The National Centers for Disease Control and Prevention gave its own warning Regarding the continuing risks on Friday, he said, “High influenza activity is expected to continue for several more weeks.”
Hospitals affected by the strike remain open and have hired nurses to travel to temporarily cover striking workers. Associated Press I mentioned. But a strike could mean that affected medical institutions may have to transfer patients to other hospitals and cancel or reschedule surgeries due to insufficient staffing levels.