TODAY: Adirondack Nurses to Hold First Informational Picket in 25 Years
**MEDIA ADVISORY FOR WEDNESDAY, OCT. 7**
Contact: Joseph Celestin | press@nysna.org | (518) 776-8337
Madeline St. Amour | press@nysna.org | (518) 368-8250
Adirondack Nurses to Hold First Informational Picket in 25 Years
Nurses seek a fair contract addressing recruitment, retainment, affordable healthcare benefits
More than 100 nurses to picket outside the hospital
Saranac Lake, N.Y. - After nearly a year of contract negotiations, members of the New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) at Adirondack Medical Center will picket today, Wednesday, Oct. 7, from 3 - 6 p.m., as they call for a fair contract to ensure there are enough nurses to care for their community and to protect nurse and patient safety. Nurses will also hold a 4 p.m. press conference.
Nurses are seeking entry to the NYSNA Benefit Fund, which will provide affordable healthcare benefits for nurses and their families. Adirondack’s current employer-provided health plan is both costly and limited, acting as a deterrent for both recruiting and retaining quality nurses in the North Country. Gaining access to the NYSNA Benefit Fund would ensure nurses have access to the affordable, full health coverage needed to keep themselves, their families, and their patients safe and healthy.
WHO: NYSNA nurses at Adirondack Medical Center, as well as labor, elected and community allies, including: Northeast Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO President Karen Plotas-McGrath; Jefferson, Lewis and St. Lawrence Counties Central Trades and Labor Council, AFL-CIO President Sam Burns; and members of the Northeast Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO.
WHAT: Informational picket.
WHEN: Wednesday, Oct. 7 from 3 - 6 p.m.
**Press conference at 4 p.m.**
WHERE: In front of Adirondack Medical Center, 2233 State Route 86, Saranac Lake, NY
** Photos and livestream video are available for media use at facebook.com/nynurses **
Negotiations with the hospital began in November of 2025, and since that time, management has refused to address nurses’ main concern at the hospital: recruiting and retaining experienced nurses to provide safe, quality care. Nurses responded to management dragging their feet at the bargaining table by launching a digital action and advertising campaign for community members. More than 400 community members took action in support of Adirondack nurses by sending emails to hospital CEO Aaron Kramer, demanding that he settle a fair contract that includes affordable health benefits. They held the facility’s first public action outside the hospital in 25 years in July, and today’s informational picket will be the first at the hospital in 25 years.
“It's going to get harder to recruit and retain nurses as our family plans become more expensive and our wages fall further behind most of the other area hospitals,” said Bill Schneider, BSN, RN, CCRN, second vice president of NYSNA, president of the NYSNA Adirondack Medical Center bargaining unit, and PACU nurse at Adirondack. “Every day, nurses work hard to care for our patients and community. Why is Adirondack making nurses struggle to get the health coverage and meaningful wages they and their families need?”
Adirondack Medical Center is the last NYSNA-represented hospital in the North Country without the NYSNA Benefit Fund, which will deliver better and more affordable health benefits to nurses. Instead, nurses are forced onto an expensive employer-provided health plan where Adirondack Health is the only provider. Nurses report being denied coverage for medically necessary procedures and high co-pays for services not provided at Adirondack, including radiation therapy and chemotherapy for cancer treatment.
“I was diagnosed with cancer 11 months ago. While my health is better, I am still suffering financially because of our expensive employer-provided healthcare plan. Adirondack is the only in-network provider, so I was forced to pay out-of-pocket for radiation treatments, which Adirondack doesn’t offer,” said Toby Ringland, RN, an operating room nurse at Adirondack. “As a frontline nurse, I shouldn’t have to worry about whether I’ll be able to afford care, or if my care will be covered, while I’m caring for others.”
As frontline healthcare workers, nurses should have access to the affordable healthcare benefits they need to stay safe and healthy, not a plan that their employer profits from. In addition to being denied coverage and the expensive co-pays, some nurses have reported enrolling their children in the Child Health Plus plan, New York’s public health insurance plan for kids, because Adirondack’s plan is too expensive.
“My children are on Child Health Plus and I’m living without health insurance and forgoing necessary medication because I cannot afford the employer-provided healthcare plan,” said Kim Young, RN, a nurse in the vascular and oncology infusion departments. “This is why we are fighting to join the NYSNA Benefit Fund. Having affordable health benefits would be a game changer for my family.”
“NYSNA nurses at Adirondack Medical Center are right to speak out and advocate for their patients and profession. Nurses in this community put their own health on the line every day they come to work, and they deserve quality, affordable health benefits,” said NYSNA President Nancy Hagans, RN, BSN, CCRN. “It is shameful that the largest private employer in the Adirondack Park is refusing to listen to the nurses and negotiate a fair contract that keeps the hospital competitive and helps recruit and retain enough nurses for quality care.”
“The NYSNA Benefit Fund is a huge draw for the nurses who come to work at my hospital,” said Aaron O’Neill, RN, a med-surg nurse at Canton-Potsdam Hospital. “We want to know that we will have access to affordable healthcare for ourselves and our families. This benefit plays a huge role in our hospital’s recruitment and retention of quality nurses.”
Last fall, NYSNA nurses across the North Country launched a coordinated bargaining campaign, demanding contracts that protect nurse and patient safety, and ensure access to care for North Country residents. Nurses at North Star Health Alliance/Carthage Area Hospital, North Star Health Alliance/Claxton-Hepburn Medical Campus, Samaritan Medical Center, University of Vermont Health (UVMH)-Alice Hyde Medical Center, and UVMH-Elizabethtown Community Hospital settled new contracts earlier this year. At Claxton-Hepburn and Elizabethtown, nurses won entry to the NYSNA Benefit Fund for the first time. Along with Adirondack nurses, NYSNA members at UVMH-Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital continue to bargain for a fair contract.
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The New York State Nurses Association represents approximately 45,000 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.