NURSES ARE READY TO STRIKE AT ALBANY MEDICAL CENTER; DEMAND PREPARATION FOR NEXT WAVE OF CORONAVIRUS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Carl Ginsburg | Carl.ginsburg@nysna.org | 917-405-1060

**MEDIA ADVISORY FOR TODAY**

One-day walk-out set for December 1

ALBANY, NY— In a hospital “coming apart at the seams,” nurses of the New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) will strike at Albany Medical Center (AMC) to demand professional, safe standards at the facility. Nurses are extremely concerned about their ability to safely care for patients during this pandemic.

“We are not walking out. We are being forced out,” said Lenore Granich, RN, AMC negotiating committee member. “AMC is not and has not listened to us. COVID-19 is back with a vengeance and our staffing is at critical mass, PPE – especially N95s are being reused multiple times and now our staff members are becoming infected. These conditions put us and our patients at risk. When will enough be enough?”

WHO

NYSNA Nurses at Albany Medical Center

WHAT

Nurses ready to strike AMC over patient care and unsafe working conditions

WHEN

TODAY, Friday, November 20 at 8:30AM

WHERE

43 New Scotland Avenue, Pillars Entrance, Albany

VISUALS: Masking and social distancing will be strictly observed.

Nurses at AMC report that COVID and NON-COVID patients are sometimes co-mingled, allowing spread of the virus. “COVID-positive patients are all over the place,” said one nurse. The emergency room is overflowing, with the addition of hallway beds. N95 masks are re-used after being treated with sanitizer, in what nurses cite as ineffective and dangerous. “You taste an acid-like film in your mouth from the used mask,” said Granich, RN.

Hundreds of hospital staff – including over 200 nurses – have left AMC due to hospital conditions in what one nurse called a “hospital coming apart at the seams.”

AMC has unilaterally changed terms and conditions of work and intimidated RNs from communicating with co-workers about the union. The National Labor Relations Board is currently investigating these unfair labor practice charges.

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The New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) represents more than 42,000 members in New York State. We are New York’s largest union and professional association for registered nurses. For more information, please visit our website at  www.nysna.org