We Care for the North Country
NYSNA nurses and healthcare professionals care for all New Yorkers, including in the North Country. This Fall, members at seven North Country facilities are bargaining for new contracts, and they’re ready to fight to ensure that North Country residents all have access to the safe, quality patient care they deserve. Members at Samaritan Medical Center, Claxton-Hepburn Medical Center, Carthage Area Hospital, and UVM-Elizabethtown Community Hospital are already at the bargaining table. NYSNA members at Adirondack Medical Center, UVM-Alice Hyde Medical Center, and UVM-Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital are set to begin bargaining before the end of the year. With the impact of federal healthcare cuts looming on the horizon, negotiations at these rural hospitals are more important than ever as nurses fight for the staffing and resources necessary to care for their communities.
Making Our Demands Heard
On Oct. 1, NYSNA nurses at Samaritan Medical Center marched on the boss in support of their fight for a fair contract. Nurses delivered a petition to management demanding a fair contract for nurses that includes enforceable safe staffing, a safe workplace, and a secure future—in the form of fair wages and respectful benefits meant to recruit and retain experienced, qualified nurses. More than 300 nurses signed the petition in solidarity with their bargaining committee.
That same week, nurses at Carthage Area Hospital and Claxton-Hepburn Medical Center organized a joint button campaign to remind management: nurses are worth more than a pizza party. NYSNA members at both facilities organized this action to let management know that pizza parties are not a replacement for fair contracts and safe staffing, and that nurses won’t settle for anything less than the contract they deserve!
On Oct. 15, NYSNA members at UVM-Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital marched to the Department of Human Resources to demand a first bargaining date to begin negotiations for a new contract. This came after weeks of frustration with management’s lack of response. Nurses and healthcare professionals marched to HR, demanding negotiation dates that members would be able to attend. After the meeting, management quickly responded by proposing additional dates for future bargaining sessions.
Ready to Take Action
At other facilities, nurses are preparing to take action. Carthage/Claxton-Hepburn members are set to deliver a bargaining petition to management, highlighting their demands for quality care for their patients and respectful and fair wages and benefits for nurses. At the UVM facilities, members are finalizing their bargaining platforms. Chief priorities for members at both facilities are enforceable safe staffing ratios, stronger safety measures to prevent workplace violence, and strong benefit packages to recruit and retain skilled healthcare workers for their communities.
Many things unite nurses in the North Country, including a deep love for their local communities and a commitment to providing safe, quality care for those who need it. In this moment, one thing looms above all else: fighting for contracts that will help North Country communities withstand the impact of impending federal cuts to healthcare funding. Nearly 100,000 North Country New Yorkers are set to become uninsured, and the cuts will likely lead to service and hospital closures in underfunded, rural areas. NYSNA members are patient advocates and are ready to defend access to quality care for their patients as they head into bargaining. They won’t stop advocating for the staffing and services their communities need because NYSNA members know: when we fight, we win!