NYSNA Update: July 2, 2026
CVPH Healthcare Professionals Speak Out to Save the Adirondack Blood Donor Center
On Tuesday, June 30, NYSNA nurses and healthcare professionals from University of Vermont Health-Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital (UVMH-CVPH) held a speak-out to save the Adirondack Blood Donor Center. Elected officials, including New York State Assembly Member Michael Cashman, labor allies and community members whose lives have been greatly impacted by the Center, joined members. ABC22 and NBC 5 covered the speak-out.
In early June, UVMH announced that it would be closing the Center and transferring responsibility for blood products to the Red Cross. The Center currently provides 95% of the blood used at UVMH’s New York-based hospitals. NYSNA members immediately recognized the threat to patient care that this closure would be and sprang into action. In just a few days, healthcare professionals collected over 1,000 signatures on a petition demanding that the Center remain open, and Tuesday’s speak-out was the next step in their plan to save this vital community resource.
NYSNA members at CVPH demanded UVMH keep essential healthcare services open in the North Country and deliver a fair contract with safe staffing. Keep up the great work, CVPH healthcare professionals!
Catholic Health/St. Charles Nurses Deliver 10-Day Strike Notice
This week, after months of bargaining, NYSNA nurses at Catholic Health/St. Charles Hospital delivered a 10-day strike notice to hospital management. Dozens of NYSNA nurses marched to hospital president James O’Conner’s office on Tuesday, June 30, to inform him of their intention to strike if management continues to drag its feet at the bargaining table. The strike is set to begin on Monday, July 13, unless management negotiates a fair agreement. Nurses’ strike notice delivery received coverage in Newsday, Patch and Crain’s.
Enforceable safe staffing language continues to be a key sticking point in negotiations. St. Charles administrators continue to frequently understaff nurses; even after nurses filed hundreds of complaints to enforce the safe staffing standards in their contract, a New York State Department of Health investigation found nearly 200 violations of the safe staffing law, and the hospital signed an agreement committing to hire and staff more nurses.
St. Charles nurses are fighting to include enforceable safe staffing language in their contract to hold their hospital accountable in the future and to ensure that they cancontinue to provide safe, quality care for their community. Don’t give up the fight, St. Charles nurses!
Nurses and Allies Hold Virtual Town Hall to Fight Back Against Montefiore Replacing Nurses With AI
On Wednesday, July 1, NYSNA nurses held a virtual town hall to push back on Montefiore’s plan to lay off nurses and replace them with an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered software. Earlier this year, Montefiore announced a plan to lay off utilization nurses who use decades of bedside experience and clinical judgement to review insurance denials and ensure that patients get the care they need covered by insurance.
Several elected officials joined nurses on the town hall meeting, including New York State Senator Nathalia Fernandez and Assembly Members Karines Reyes, Jeffrey Dinowitz and Amanda Septimo. New York City Council Member and Labor Chair Shirley Aldebol called on healthcare systems to cancel the layoffs and stop attempting to replace nurses with unproven technology that might compromise patient care. Gothamist, WNYC and Crain’s covered the town hall.
Montefiore nurses at the town hall were also concerned about the company that management chose to replace the utilization nurses: Datavant, a private-equity-backed tech company with ties to Palantir and a history of data breaches. Keep up the fight to protect union jobs and patient care, Montefiore nurses!