Ellis Nurses Picketed For Safe Staffing

Schenectady, N.Y.– On Tuesday, April 16 hundreds of NYSNA nurses and allies held an informational picket to sound the alarm on patient care at Ellis Medicine. Ellis nurses were joined on the picket line by NYSNA president Nancy Hagans, RN, BSN, CCRN, and fellow capital region NYSNA nurses from Albany Medical Center and Nathan Littauer Hospital as well as allies from the Capital District Area Labor Federation, New York State United Teachers, New York State Council of Churches, NYS Labor Religion Coalition, Black Nurses Coalition, Assemblymember Angelo Santabarbara, and Schenectady County Legislator Michelle Ostrelich.  

NYSNA President Nancy Hagans, RN, BSN, CCRN said, “Hospitals should be healing wounds, not wounding our community with cuts to patient care. We’re calling on Ellis and St. Peters not to cut care for our community. It’s long past time for Ellis to come to the bargaining table and settle a fair contract that guarantees there are always enough nurses at the bedside to safely care for Capital Region patients.”

While nurses are fighting for a fair contract that prioritizes safe staffing and patient care, at the bargaining table, Ellis management is asking to make safe staffing ratios less safe, which would add to overworked nurses’ already high patient load.  

Ellis Medicine nurse and NYSNA Central Regional Director Catherine Dawson, RN, CNOR, MSN, said, “Ellis management has shown up late to every single contract bargaining session, showing that they have no respect for us, or for this process. Management got upset when we said we don’t want Ellis to turn into the Walmart of hospitals. But they want to fill our hospital floors with part-time per diem nurses who get no benefits. That sounds an awful lot like Walmart's business model to me.” 

Ellis nurse Patricia Donahue, RN said, “My grandmother graduated from Ellis nursing school in 1926 and spent the majority of her career at Ellis. I’ve been working here for almost 43 years now. My whole family uses Ellis and always has. Ellis means more than just a paycheck to me, and I know most of my fellow Ellis nurses feel the same way. We care about this hospital and about our community. It’s our responsibility to give our patients the very best care, but Ellis management is making that difficult by failing to give us enough staff or enough resources to recruit and retain experienced nurses.”

Assemblymember Angelo Santabarbara said, “Schenectady patients are depending on Ellis Medicine to care for our community. Nurses know that cuts to patient care services hurt — and so do cuts to staffing. That’s why I’m joining nurses in calling on the hospital to do the right thing and settle a fair union contract that protects care for Schenectady.” 

Ellis Medicine nurses are concerned that the cuts made since the merger agreement with St. Peter’s will exacerbate the chronic understaffing that is already pervasive at the hospital. NYSNA researchers analyzed staffing data across six units of the hospital from February to November 2023. They found that overall, day and night shifts on these units were understaffed over 90 percent of the time.

Since the merger agreement, Ellis has also reduced essential healthcare services like overnight emergency services in Clifton Park and inpatient adolescent mental health care at Ellis Hospital. Nurses are concerned by St. Peter’s track record on healthcare service closures. Right now, St. Peter’s is trying to permanently close the Burdett Birthing Center of Samaritan Hospital in Troy. 

Meanwhile, according to 990 financial filings, Ellis Medicine CEO Paul Milton’s total compensation leaped from $679,072 to $765,742 in 2020 – the worst year of the COVID-19 pandemic. That’s a 12.7 percent increase. In 2021, he made a whopping $794,474 in total compensation. Three other Ellis Medicine execs made approximately half a million dollars that year.

In March, Ellis nurses leafletted the community to ask for support. Nurses are asking community members to email the Ellis and St. Peter’s CEOs to demand that they prioritize patient care, stop service cuts, and settle a fair contract so nurses can provide the best care for their patients and the community. The email template can be found at bit.ly/ellis-medicine-letter.