FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 18, 2020
Contact: Carl Ginsburg | carl.ginsburg@nysna.org | 917.405.1060
Kristi Barnes | kristi.barnes@nysna.org | 646.853.4489
**MEDIA ADVISORY FOR NOVEMBER 19**: NURSES AT MONTEFIORE MEDICAL CENTER CHARGE HOSPITAL SYSTEM UNPREPARED FOR RESURGING CORONAVIRUS
RNs DEMAND ESSENTIAL STAFFING AND PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT
STILL NO TRANSPARENCY OF ESSENTIAL INFORMATION AT HARD-HIT HOSPITAL SYSTEM
Bronx, NY — Nurses of the New York State Nurses Association are sounding an alarm over lack of preparedness by the hospital system to fight the resurging coronavirus, holding a speak out and press conference on Thursday, November 19 at 11:30AM at the Montefiore Moses Hospital and marching to Woodlawn Cemetery. A “March to Save Lives” will follow the press conference and reconvene at the cemetery.
Safe staffing levels in critical care units and adequate personal protective equipment for staff and patients are essential to battling the virus, say nurses. But understaffing and inadequate PPE are the norm, putting patients, nurses and the community at serious risk.
WHO: Nurses of the Montefiore Medical Center, community and political supporters
WHAT: Speak out for staffing and adequate PPE needed to fight the coronavirus: and “March to Save Lives” to follow
WHEN: Thursday, November 19, 11:30AM
WHERE: Start at 210th Street entrance of Moses Hospital with March ending at Woodlawn Cemetery, Bronx
“We are sounding the alarm,” said Una Davis, RN, a surgical stepdown nurse and NYSNA co-chair at Montefiore Moses Hospital. “We are about to face the COVID crisis again in the Bronx and we are not ready. We will not allow the suffering and death our community and our nurses went through in the spring to happen again. Management needs to take steps immediately to hire nurses. Beds don’t care for you—we do. We can’t do it without proper staffing.”
“For the last nine months, our nurses have been in the trenches of the COVID-19 pandemic, putting their health on the line to care for our loved ones. As we approach a second wave of cases, it is critical that Montefiore do everything in its power to ensure their nurses have the resources they need to safely continue saving lives. I stand firmly with members of the New York State Nurses Association in their demands for Montefiore to provide a proper supply of PPE, safe staffing, and effective ventilation for their nurses,” said State Senator Alessandra Biaggi (D-Bronx/Westchester).
In neighboring Mount Vernon, a city of 75,000 largely African American residents, Montefiore’s Mount Vernon Hospital closed down critical care units and removed equipment. Floors that could have been prepared for COVID-19 critical care units sit empty.
At Montefiore’s New Rochelle Hospital, nurses will serve a ten-day strike notice to management, citing severe understaffing and unpreparedness for a virus already showing signs of resurgence. Nurses are demanding a contract that provides safe staffing and fair wages and benefits.
VISUALS: Masking and social distancing will be strictly observed.
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The New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) represents more than 42,000 members in New York State. We are New York’s largest union and professional association for registered nurses. For more information, please visit nysna.org.
