NYSNA Update: November 21, 2025
Nurses Rally and Testify at New York City Council
The New York City Council Committee on Hospitals held an oversight hearing on the state of nursing, and more than 20 NYSNA nurses testified to sound the alarm on the current conditions at New York City’s private hospitals. Over 200 nurses and allies — joined by Hospitals Committee Chair Mercedes Narcisse, Health Committee Chair Lynn Schulman, and Labor Committee Chair Carmen De La Rosa — packed the steps of City Hall for a press conference and rally ahead of the hearing.
Nurses urged lawmakers to support them in their demand that New York City private sector hospitals invest in safe patient care rather than executive pay and risky speculation on artificial intelligence. NYSNA’s rally was streamed live on our Facebook page and testimony can be watched on the City Council’s website.
The press — including News 12, New York Amsterdam News, El Diario, the Staten Island Advance, Politico and WBAI live — covered the press conference and hearing.
NYSNA Nurses Hold Roundtable for Allies on Patient Care in the North Country
On Thursday, Nov. 20, NYSNA nurses held a virtual briefing for allies on the state of patient care in the North Country. Over the last decade, healthcare services in rural parts of our state have been decimated by hospital consolidation and cuts to essential services. With cuts to federal healthcare funding set to hit in the coming years, including Medicaid cuts, nurses are fighting to restore critical services, like maternal and pediatric care, and protect patient care in their communities.
Claxton-Hepburn Medical Center nurse Jess Thornton, RN, said at the roundtable, "The extreme reduction in healthcare services across the North Country is forcing my family, my neighbors, and my community to travel great distances and pay huge sums out of pocket. We have to fight to restore services in the North Country, because what we have right now is already deeply unsustainable and only deters people from seeking medical care before it's too late."
With members from seven North Country facilities currently bargaining for new contracts, the time to fight to protect services and patient care in rural communities is now. NYSNA members care for the North Country and won't stop fighting until they settle the contract that North Country patients and healthcare staff deserve! NYSNA nurses and healthcare professionals intend to take their message to the broader community on Dec. 10 at a virtual town hall meeting. Learn more and help us spread the word!
Bargaining Heats Up at Syosset Hospital
NYSNA nurses at Northwell/Syosset Hospital continued bargaining this week, and held the line in their demands for better staffing ratios and maintaining their health benefits and pension. Northwell Health is the largest private employer in New York State, but they've already proposed outrageous takeaways during negotiations, including the loss of the NYSNA health and pension plans. Nurses at Syosset Hospital, though, are not ready to give up those benefits without a fight. If Northwell Health can afford to acquire entire health systems and grow their business, they can also affrd to settle the fair contract that Syosset nurses and patients deserve!