FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 24, 2020
Contact: Halimah Elmariah | helmariah@kivvit.com | 201.290.9753
Albany, NY — Members of the New York State Nurses Association at Albany Medical Center will be joined by labor leaders and elected officials to hold a press conference tomorrow demanding that hospital management come back to the negotiating table for a fair contract that puts patient care and safety first.
WHO: NYSNA Nurses at Albany Medical Center and union members of CWA 1118, Troy Labor Council, Teamsters 294, NYS Council of Churches, IBEW 236, SEIU 200 United, and Albany Central Federation of Labor
WHAT: Labor Solidarity Speak Out for Albany Med Nurses
WHEN: TOMORROW, Wednesday, November 25 at 11:00 AM
WHERE: Albany Medical Center, 43 New Scotland Avenue, Albany, NY
VISUALS: Masking and social distancing will be strictly observed.
Hundreds of hospital staff – including almost 500 nurses – have left AMC due to hospital conditions in what one nurse called a “hospital coming apart at the seams.”
NYSNA continues to raise the red flag on three issues in particular:
- The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) calls for masks to be re-used only if there is NOT a 90 day supply of equipment. The state says all hospitals have a 90 day supply. Albany Medical Center says it has a 90 day supply. The question is: why are hospital executives forcing nurses to re-use masks up to 20 times on many different people? Click here for a look at the masks from Sunday 11/22 that the hospital wants to re-use.
- Albany Medical Center must stop moving patients from floor to floor without getting the results of a COVID test back. We must make sure that the virus is not spreading from floor to floor, unit to unit. Why is Albany Medical Center mixing patient populations in a way that could easily spread the virus?
- Albany Medical Center created a nurse to patient crisis staffing ratio that they are now actively violating. It was essential in the spring for proper patient care and it remains essential for the fall surge.
We believe that these practices create an immediate threat of harm to nurses and patients and should be immediately remedied. Albany Med must address their health and safety concerns and settle a fair contract that protects patients and nurses.
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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.
