NYC Nurses Strike: Montefiore Slanders Nurses Instead of Investing in Communities
**MEDIA ADVISORY FOR WEDNESDAY, JAN. 14*
Contact: Eliza Bates | press@nysna.org | 646-285-8491
Andrea Penman-Lomeli | press@nysna.org | 347-559-3169
NYC NURSES STRIKE: MONTEFIORE SLANDERS NURSES INSTEAD OF INVESTING IN COMMUNITIES
Striking nurses to hold 11 a.m. press conference outside of Montefiore on third day of largest nurse strike in NYC history to call out hospitals’ refusal to invest in their communities while spending millions on executive pay, investments in AI and PR
New York, NY— Striking NYSNA nurses will hold a press conference at 11 a.m. at Montefiore Moses in the Bronx to call out management’s desperate attempts to slander the nurses who care for New York. Montefiore management has shown their disrespect for nurses by refusing to agree to proposals to protect patient and nurse safety. Now they are escalating their attack against nurses by blatantly mischaracterizing a basic workplace proposal, which hospitals around the city and state have already adopted.
Wednesday is the third day of the largest nurse strike in New York City history with nearly 15,000 NYSNA nurses from Mount Sinai Hospital, Mount Sinai Morningside and West, and NewYork-Presbyterian who are on strike demanding hospitals take action to protect patient and nurse safety, including agreeing to maintain health benefits for frontline nurses.
WHAT: NYSNA Strike and Strike Line Press Conference
WHO: NYSNA nurses and allies, including New York State Senator Nathalia Fernandez; Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson; Queens Borough President Donovan Richards; Assembly Members Jeffrey Dinowitz and Amanda Septimo; Council Members Eric Dinowitz, Pierina Sanchez and Shirley Aldebol; New York Central Labor Council; Make the Road New York; Northwest Bronx Community Clergy Coalition; and CIR/SEIU
WHEN: Wednesday, Jan. 14 at 11 a.m. Press Conference
WHERE: Press conference: Montefiore Moses Campus, 111 East 210th Street, Bronx, NY 10467.
In their fight against frontline nurses advocating for their communities, Montefiore, Mount Sinai and NewYork-Presbyterian hired Risa Heller's PR firm, best known as the “PR firm for really bad people,” which has represented clients like Harvey Weinstein, Jared Kushner and the Sackler family. Montefiore has routinely prioritized their image over their nurses and patients. While disinvesting from the Bronx, Montefiore reportedly spent over $75 million in 2023 on advertising and promotion.
NYSNA President Nancy Hagans, RN, BSN, CCRN, said, “Montefiore’s attempts to slander and disrespect their nurses shows how low they are willing to go to avoid settling fair contracts that protect Bronx patients and nurses. Instead of addressing our proposals to make Montefiore a safe place for patients and nurses, they have waged outrageous PR campaigns. Montefiore needs to stop the lies and negative attacks and start bargaining a fair contract.”
Nurses know that executives can afford to invest in safe patient care. In 2023, Montefiore’s CEO Phillip Ozuah brought in $16.4 million in total compensation, making him the second highest-paid hospital executive in the New York area. Between 2020 and 2023, his pay doubled, increasing by 120%. No other hospital CEO in New York City saw similar increases in that period. In 2024, investments generated $72 million for the hospital.
Nurses are demanding Montefiore invests in Bronx patients. In the spring of 2024, Montefiore announced a “restructuring plan” that involved reducing the number of beds at Montefiore Moses. Moses and Weiler still have overcrowded emergency rooms, and patients are routinely left to wait in hallways. Shifting services to other campuses did nothing to address these issues and only further threatens access to care in the Bronx, where patients need it most. Instead they’ve spent millions on expansion into Westchester.
NYSNA nurses walked out on Monday, Jan. 12, after management refused to make meaningful progress on core issues that nurses have been fighting for: safe staffing for patients, healthcare benefits for nurses, and workplace violence protections. Nurses are ready to settle a fair contract that prioritizes safety. However, management has responded with delaying progress, silencing vocal patient advocates, and smearing nurses publicly. The wealthiest hospitals in New York continue to threaten disastrous cut to health coverage that would impact not just striking nurses at Mount Sinai, Mount Sinai Morningside and West and NewYork-Presbyterian, but approximately 44,000 nurses and their families at over 50 hospitals around the state who are enrolled in NYSNA’s health benefit plan.
Until management agrees to fair contract that protects patients and nurses, strike lines continue daily beginning at 7 a.m. at:
- Mount Sinai Hospital, 1468 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10029
- Mount Sinai Morningside, 1111 Amsterdam Ave, New York, NY 10025
- Mount Sinai West, 1000 Tenth Ave, New York, NY 10019
Montefiore Bronx Locations:
- Jack D. Weiler Campus, 1825 Eastchester Road, Bronx, NY 10461
- Montefiore Bronx, Henry & Lucy Moses Campus, 111 East 210th Street, Bronx, NY 10467
- Montefiore Bronx, Montefiore Hutchinson Medical Center, 1250 Waters Place, Bronx, NY
NewYork-Presbyterian locations:
- NewYork-Presbyterian Allen, 5141 Broadway, New York, NY 10034
- NewYork-Presbyterian CUMC, 177 Fort Washington Ave, New York, NY 10032
- NewYork-Presbyterian CHONY, 3959 Broadway, New York, NY 10032
Key sticking points and open issues remain: management’s threats to cut healthcare benefits for the frontline nurses who care for New York City, management’s attempt to roll back safe staffing standards that nurses won when they went on strike at two major hospitals three years ago, and management’s refusal to agree to protections from workplace violence, despite a recent active shooter incident at Mount Sinai Hospital and the recent horrific violent incident at NewYork-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital.
Instead of following the lead of New York City’s eight safety-net hospitals and Northwell Health’s three hospitals on Long Island that all reached tentative agreements with nurses to avert strikes, New York City’s wealthiest academic hospitals are forcing nurses out on strike and refusing to agree to NYSNA's proposal to continue nurses’ health benefits.
While nurses have fought above all for safety, management has responded with retaliation, intimidation, and stalling, and flaunted the more than $100 million they’ve collectively spent on temporary replacement nurses.
NewYork-Presbyterian, Montefiore and Mount Sinai – three of New York City’s wealthiest private hospitals – claim they can’t afford to settle a fair contract. As of September 2025, these three hospitals had on hand twice as much cash and cash equivalents as they had in 2017, even adjusting for inflation, holding onto over $1.6 billion dollars, showing that the safe staffing ratios nurses won years ago allowed them to continue to rake in profits.
While prices in healthcare go up, so does executive pay at the largest private sector hospitals. The city’s private hospitals have increased their executive compensation by millions and according to 990 tax filings, the CEOs of New York City’s three major academic medical centers, Montefiore, Mount Sinai and NewYork-Presbyterian increased their total compensation, including salaries, benefits, and perks, by over 54% from 2020 to 2023. The CEOs at Montefiore, Mount Sinai and NewYork-Presbyterian, the same ones who say they cannot afford to safely staff their hospitals, now make, on average, nearly 12,000 percent more than the registered nurses on the frontlines caring for patients.
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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.