For Immediate Release
Contact: Dan Lutz, 347.835.3429, dan.lutz@nysna.org
Photo opportunity: Nurses informational picket in Bed-Stuy
PLEASE NOTE: Due to ongoing negotiations, the Interfaith Medical Center Informational Picketing event has been cancelled. Please check back often for updates regarding continuing developments in this effort. Your understanding and support is greatly appreciated.
BROOKLYN, March 21, 2012 – Registered nurses from Interfaith Medical Center will picket for patient safety TOMORROW – Thursday, March 22, from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. and again from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m., in front of the hospital at 1545 Atlantic Ave.
Interfaith management is proposing to cut nurse staffing levels at the hospital—from one nurse on duty for every six patients, to just one nurse for eight patients.
“We take care of poor people and the uninsured every day,” said Ari Moma, RN, a nurse at Interfaith and member of the nurses’ union, the New York State Nurses Association. “They deserve quality care—just like patients in Park Slope, Manhattan, or anywhere else.”
Interfaith cares for poor and medically underserved communities in Bedford Stuyvesant, East New York, and Bushwick.
The RNs will be meeting with hospital management tonight to try to reach an agreement that addresses nurses’ concerns. If an agreement is reached, the picket will be cancelled. Contact Dan Lutz from the Nurses Association staff at 347.835.3429 on Thursday morning to confirm that the picket is happening.
The New York State Nurses Association is the voice for nursing in the Empire State. With more than 37,000 members, it is New York’s largest professional association and union for registered nurses. The association represents registered nurses, and some all-professional bargaining units, in New York and New Jersey. It supports nurses and nursing practice through education, research, legislative advocacy, and collective bargaining.
- 30 -