NYSNA Nurses Hold Town Hall to Update Community on Staffing Crisis That Continues to Put Patient Care at Risk
Contact:
Andrea Penman-Lomeli | press@nysna.org | 347-559-3169
Kristi Barnes | press@nysna.org| 646-853-4489
NURSES HOLD TOWN HALL TO UPDATE COMMUNITY ON STAFFING CRISIS THAT CONTINUES TO PUT PATIENT CARE AT RISK
Despite a record number of Department of Health Violations, Albany Med continues to hide the truth about understaffing instead of fixing the problem
Nurses to testify about ICU bed closures, emergency department patients now being crowded into unheated hallways, and delays in care
New data shows Albany Med Health System executives spent nearly $80 million in 2023 on one staffing agency alone and still understaffed the hospital
Albany, N.Y. -- New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) nurses and labor and community allies are hosting a public townhall meeting to call attention to Albany Medical Center’s refusal to address its staffing crisis. Instead of working to hire and retain enough nurses for quality care, the hospital has resorted to putting emergency department patients in unheated hallways, closing beds in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), and moving infants to departments not equipped to care for them. Nearly a year after nurses spoke out at a townhall meeting about understaffing in the NICU and other areas of the hospital, too little has been done to address the crisis. Nurses will speak about the hospital’s attempts to hide the staffing crisis and waste money on expensive temporary travel nurses, and labor leaders and elected officials will speak about their experiences as Albany Med patients.
WHAT: Staffing Crisis Townhall
WHEN: Tuesday, Jan. 28 from 6-8 p.m.
WHERE: Albany Black Chamber of Commerce, 141 Washington Avenue, Albany
WHO: NYSNA nurses at Albany Medical Center; Citizen Action; Capital District Area Labor Federation, New York State Council of Churches; Labor-Religion Coalition of New York State and elected officials, including Assemblymembers Gabriella Romero and Phil Steck.
Nearly a year after nurses brought attention to the staffing crisis at a townhall meeting, nurses say the staffing crisis has not improved. Instead, the hospital has found creative ways of hiding the crisis. The Department of Health (DOH) issued a Staffing Deficiency Report in late Aug. 2024, that frontline nurses on the staffing committee have yet to see. Although the DOH report outlines a record 480+ violations of the state’s safe staffing law, CEO Dennis McKenna has repeatedly denied there is a crisis at the hospital. Frontline nurses on the staffing committee were also supposed to be included in the creation of a corrective plan to address these deficiencies. Although McKenna alleges nurses were part of the process, they had no role. Albany Med’s ED has been found to have some of the longest wait times in the country and more nurses leave the hospital than they are able to retain.
After fighting for nearly a year for a fair contract with safe staffing standards and a real plan to recruit and retain nurses, Albany Med nurses continue to make safe staffing a core part of their demands.
** Photos and video available at https://www.facebook.com/nynurses **
Jennifer Bejo, RN, says, “Instead of addressing problems, hospital management tries to hide them, or shift them onto the nurses’ shoulders. For example, keeping patients from waiting in the ambulance bay is a priority for the hospital. Instead of looking into why we have been unable to place these patients in rooms immediately, they've asked us to move them into the cold vestibule which is not conducive to quality care. While it's important for optics, these moves don’t address the real issue - which is that patients are waiting too long for care because of short staffing.”
Instead of hiring and retaining enough nurses to run at full capacity and meet the needs of all patients, Albany Med routinely keeps beds closed because there are too few nurses to staff them. Albany Med's neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) currently runs at only 80% of its certified capacity and the unit is still not staffed at the legally required 1:2 nurse-to-patient ratio. When there is a surge of patients needing care, Albany Med cannot open certified beds in its unit to respond because there are not enough nurses. As a result, patients, including laboring mothers, are potentially forced to wait longer for care. This creates a compounding effect, adding stress to other frequently understaffed units. Other intensive care units (ICU) and regular medical-surgical floors routinely close beds because there are not enough nurses.
As the region’s only Level 1 Trauma Center, issues in the Emergency Department and Intensive Care units affect patients well beyond the capital region. Receiving patients from as far as Vermont and Massachusetts, the hospital should be staffed to deal with surges in patients. When hospital management reduces capacity at Albany Med, it exacerbates an existing gap in care in more rural parts of the state. According to a NYSNA analysis of Institutional Cost Reports submitted to the state by hospitals from 2000-2019, in the rural North Country, 11% of ICU beds, 9.5% of maternity and 36% of pediatric beds closed between 2000 and 2019. When beds in maternal and infant care units across the region are continually closed, Albany Med’s refusal to sufficiently staff its NICU and ED has regional implications.
Sean Lipinski, RN, said, “As a pediatric nurse, I see the effects of bed closures on a daily basis. It puts strain on other units to care for these patients. We shouldn’t be turning babies away. We should have extra capacity to care for the patients who need us the most. Delays in patient care are much too serious to be swept under the rug and are anything but normal.”
Nurses who have spoken up about these issues have been silenced and retaliated against. NYSNA has now filed 8 unfair labor practice charges (ULP) in response to Albany Med’s actions. Nurses at Albany Medical Center have been in negotiations since April 2024 and have seen little movement from management on key issues. NYSNA nurses and the broader community are urging Albany Med administrators to settle a fair union contract with a comprehensive plan to recruit, retain, and respect nurses in order to solve the nurse staffing crisis at the hospital and ensure quality care for the community.
NYSNA President Nancy Hagans, RN, BSN, CCRN, said: “We’ve seen time and time again Albany Med is more concerned with optics than patient care. They can’t hide the crisis that so many nurses and patients experience on a daily basis. Amidst a maternal infant mortality crisis, Albany Med’s inability to staff key units, like the neonatal intensive care unit, must be taken seriously as a public health concern. Albany Med needs to start investing in care for the community and putting patients before profits.”
Hospital executives have publicly emphasized the need for “fiscal responsibility” when delivering a contract to nurses. Instead of investing in recruiting and retaining dedicated staff nurses from the community, Albany Med has continued to use a secret number of temporary travel nurses as a stop-gap solution to the staffing crisis, while still failing to safely staff the hospital. Temporary travel nurses earn approximately twice as much as staff nurses per hour. According to their latest tax filing, Albany Med Health System spent nearly $80 million on a single staffing agency in 2023. Albany Medical Center alone contracts with several nurse staffing agencies.
Over the last year, NYSNA nurses at Albany Medical Center have held an informational picket and hosted community forums, delivered petitions to hospital leadership, and held speak-outs for safe staffing. Unions and community groups recently penned a letter of solidarity calling on Albany Med to listen to its nurses. Nurses also launched an ad campaign across the capital region to draw attention to the staffing crisis at Albany Med. Visit albanymedqualitycare.org to find out more.
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The New York State Nurses Association represents more than 42,000 members in New York State. We are New York’s largest union and professional association for registered nurses. NYSNA is an affiliate of National Nurses United, AFL-CIO, the country's largest and fastest-growing union and professional association of registered nurses, with more than 225,000 members nationwide.