UVM-Alice Hyde Medical Center Nurses Overwhelmingly Ratify New Contract Agreement
For immediate release: June 25, 2026
Contact: Kristi Barnes | press@nysna.org | 646-853-4489
Joseph Celestin | press@nysna.org |518-776-8337
UVM-ALICE HYDE MEDICAL CENTER NURSES OVERWHELMINGLY RATIFY NEW CONTRACT AGREEMENT
NYSNA nurses secure a contract that maintains their health benefits, delivers fair wages to help recruit and retain nurses for safe staffing, and improves protections from workplace violence, artificial intelligence and layoffs.
Two UVM hospitals in New York have recently agreed to fair contracts with NYSNA—now only UVM-CVPH in Plattsburgh is dragging its feet.
NYSNA members at CVPH to speak out next week about the future of the Adirondack Blood Donor Center and status of contract talks
Malone, N.Y.– On Wednesday, June 24, New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) nurses at University of Vermont (UVM)-Alice Hyde Medical Center voted overwhelmingly to ratify a new four-year contract. This victory comes after months at the bargaining table and a late-night bargaining session on June 17 when nurses reached a tentative contract agreement.
Highlights of the contract include:
- Maintained health benefits.
- Fair wages to help recruit and retain nurses for safe staffing, including yearly wage increases of 3%.
- Additional pay incentives to maintain safe staffing and encourage nurse retention and education.
- Improved protections against workplace violence.
- New protections against artificial intelligence.
- Increased notification in the event of a layoff.
UVM-Alice Hyde nurse Kim Bouvier-Barnes, RN, said: “NYSNA nurses at UVM-Alice Hyde work hard to care for our community and ensure they receive the best care possible. This contract will help us deliver on that commitment. We are proud of our members for staying united and advocating for a contract that will help us protect patient care and retain experienced nurses.”
NYSNA nurses are united across the North Country and are fighting to improve care for their communities. NYSNA nurses at UVM-Elizabethtown Community Hospital settled a new contract on March 31 that included entrance into the NYSNA Benefit Fund, which will deliver better and more affordable health benefits to nurses and their families. Now that UVM-Alice Hyde nurses have settled their contract, UVM-Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital (CVPH) is the only New York hospital in the UVM health system that has yet to settle a fair contract with its nurses and healthcare workers.
UVM-CVPH nurses and healthcare professionals have recently spoken out for safe staffing and held an informational picket in front of the hospital to demand a fair contract with safe staffing, good health benefits, and protections against workplace violence, artificial intelligence and layoffs.
UVM recently announced system-wide layoffs that impact five NYSNA members at CVPH, including registered nurses who work at the Adirondack Blood Donor Center, which UVM is threatening to close, further eroding healthcare services in the North Country. NYSNA members at CVPH and community and patient advocates in the Plattsburgh area are planning a speak-out next week to ensure the Center, which provides 95% of the blood supply to North Country hospitals, stays open.
NYSNA President Nancy Hagans, RN, BSN, CCRN, said, “North Country nurses are leading the way in winning great contracts that protect quality patient care and deliver good union jobs and good family-sustaining health benefits. NYSNA is proud of our members’ fierce patient advocacy and will continue to support the fight to preserve access to quality care in every corner of the state.”
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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.