FOR IMMEDIATE RELESEASE: JULY 12, 2018

Contact: Laura Montross |Email: lmontross@kivvit.com | 212-929-0669

***MEDIA ADVISORY FOR TODAY*** 

MEMBERS OF THE NEW YORK STATE NURSES ASSOCIATION AND 1199 HEALTHCARE WORKERS RALLY IN BROOKLYN AND ON LONG ISLAND TO DEMAND PROPER WORKING CONDITIONS

 “THAT IS ALL THAT REALLY MATTERS: PATIENT SAFETY AND PATIENT CARE”

 NYSNA NURSES AND 1199 HEALTHCARE WORKERS PLAN INFORMATIONAL PICKETS AT FOUR HOSPITALS

New York, NY- Nurses and healthcare workers are hitting the streets for informational pickets to protest inadequate working conditions that could seriously impact patient care. Workers are demanding safe working environments and asking for contracts that guarantee safe patient care.

Registered nurses say they have been assigned up to 13 patients and have been forced to transport patients, do laboratory runs, receive calls to codes - all without breaks, meals, and bathroom breaks.

“Safe staffing is so important when it comes to proper care for our patients. For the RNs here, that is all that really matters: patient safety and patient care,“ said Debra Ambrose RN, Brooklyn Hospital Center.

 NYSNA is currently negotiating contracts at three Northwell facilities - Plainview Hospital, Syosset Hospital, Southside hospital – as well as Brooklyn Hospital Center. For their part, Southside Hospital nurses are jointly picketing to support the demand of the 1199 healthcare workers with whom they work for a fair contract that guarantees quality patient care.  Solidarity among the two unions protects patients.

"The NYSNA nurses at Southside Hospital stand in support of 1199's info picket because healthcare is teamwork and when both unions work together we are stronger," said Leyren Ball, RN, Southside Hospital Emergency Department.

Who: Workers affected from 4 hospitals in Brooklyn and on Long Island

What: Informational picket to protest dangerous working conditions

When: Thursday, July 12

Where:

Southside Hospital Northwell Health

301 E Main St

Bay Shore, NY 11706

12pm to 2pm

Plainview Hospital Northwell Health

888 Old Country Road

Plainview, NY 11803

12pm to 2pm

Syosset Hospital Northwell Health 

221 Jericho Tpk.

Syosset, NY  11791

12pm to 2pm

The Brooklyn Hospital Center

121 DeKalb Avenue

Brooklyn, NY 11201

(Picket in front of Hospital on DeKalb Avenue)

11:30 am - 2 pm & 6 pm - 8:30 pm