19 Days Uninsured: Brooklyn Nurses Hold Speak-out Demanding Immediate Restoration of Healthcare Coverage
**MEDIA ADVISORY FOR TODAY, FEB. 19 AT 12:00 PM**
Contact:
Andrea Penman-Lomeli | press@nysna.org | 347-559-3169
Anne Songcayauon | press@nysna.org | 917-226-8570
19 DAYS UNINSURED: BROOKLYN NURSES HOLD SPEAK-OUT DEMANDING IMMEDIATE RESTORATION OF HEALTHCARE COVERAGE
Despite signing a contract that obligates The Brooklyn Hospital Center to pay NYSNA nurses’ healthcare and pension benefits, Management has refused to pay nurses’ benefits since October, now resulting in nurses losing health coverage, leaving all the nurses uninsured.
Nurses have delayed chemotherapy appointments, pediatrician visits, and emergency care because of terminated coverage
New York, NY— Nurses represented by the New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) at The Brooklyn Hospital Center will hold a public speak-out on February 19 at 12 p.m., marking 19 days without health insurance coverage after the hospital failed to make required benefit payments. Despite a legally binding collective bargaining agreement obligating the hospital to fund nurses’ healthcare and pension benefits, the hospital has failed to make payments for nearly four consecutive months, resulting in terminated coverage for frontline nurses and their families.
For 19 days, nurses have continued reporting to work — caring for patients, delivering babies, stabilizing emergencies, and protecting public health — while personally uninsured.
Nurses report delaying chemotherapy appointments, pediatric visits for their children, specialist care, and other critical medical services due to the loss of coverage. NYSNA nurses are demanding immediate payment of all outstanding healthcare and pension contributions and full restoration of benefits.
WHAT: Speak-Out to Demand Healthcare and Pension Benefits
WHO: NYSNA nurses and community and elected officials, including Assembly Member Jo Anne Simon and Assembly Member Phara Souffrant Forest
WHEN: Feb. 19 at 12 p.m.
WHERE: The Brooklyn Hospital Center, 121 DeKalb Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11201
NYSNA President Nancy Hagans, RN, BSN, CCRN, said, “For 19 days, nurses have been uninsured while continuing to care for Brooklyn patients. It is unacceptable that the healthcare professionals who safeguard this community are being forced to delay care for themselves and their families. No nurse should have to risk their family’s health to do their job.”
Marcelle Willock, RN, and Case Manager at The Brooklyn Hospital Center, said, “We go to work every day to take care of our patients, but we don’t know how we’ll pay if our families get sick. We should not have to choose between caring for Brooklyn and protecting our own families.”
NYSNA nurses know that the hospital can afford to pay for healthcare and pension. Executives at the Brooklyn Hospital Center continue to rake in more than $8 million annually, more than any other safety net hospital. CEO Gary Terrinoni brings in nearly $2 million in executive compensation, even as nurses remain without coverage.
Nurses are showing up. Patients are being cared for. But 19 days without healthcare is 19 days too long.
Over 4,200 NYSNA nurses at NewYork-Presbyterian remain on strike and are fighting for safe staffing standards. This is now week six of the historic nurse strike.
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The New York State Nurses Association represents more than 42,000 members in New York State. We are New York’s largest union and professional association for registered nurses. NYSNA is an affiliate of National Nurses United, AFL-CIO, the country's largest and fastest-growing union and professional association of registered nurses, with more than 225,000 members nationwide.