New York State's public hospitals never turn a patient away. That's the mission of RNs everywhere.
Public hospitals are in danger: from Buffalo, to Westchester, to New York City's HHC system, officials are seeking to cut care and privatize services.
Under Mayor Bloomberg, NYC's HHC hospitals privatized laundry, dietary, and cleaning services. In 2012, HHC's Board of Directors voted to outsource outpatient dialyis to a for-profit company. NYSNA's research shows that the HHC dialysis privatization plan and proposed staffing model will lead to patient-to-nurse ratios doubling or even tripling, and nurses' hours per patient cut up to 60 percent! In addition, our research shows that when it comes to patient care, privatization leads to poorer conditions: compared to nonprofit centers, for-profit dialysis results in higher mortality rates (up to 13 percent higher than in a nonprofit) as well as increased hospitalizations and longer hospital stays (up to 17 percent higher than in a nonprofit).
At Westchester Medical Center, administrators laid off hundreds of RNs and caregivers – and then outsourced their work to private, for-profit companies. Watch the video here.
Made up of nurse-leaders from across the HHC system and Mayoral agencies, NYSNA's HHC/Mayorals Executive Council leads our work to defend NYC's public healthcare system.
NYSNA is building a powerful coalition of patients, community leaders, and elected officials to reverse privatization and expand our public hospital system. RNs are making calls, meeting with lawmakers, spreading the word to friends and family, and rallying.
