NYSNA members held a day of action on March 2nd, the same day that the public sector contract expired for 9,000 H+H/Mayorals nurses, to speak out about the short-staffing crisis that puts public ho
In late February, Juditch Cutchin, RN, President of NYSNA NYC Health+Hospitals/Mayorals Executive Council, spoke to the New York City Council Committee on Hospitals.
In New York City, there is a two-tier healthcare system. An important report shows that NYC’s Health+Hospitals/Mayorals (H+H) system provides the majority of under-financed medical care to the city’s uninsured, Medicaid, and Level One emergency trauma care patients. The public system is not adequately compensated for the care it provides—and that private hospitals avoid—such as mental healthcare. New York’s private hospitals make money at the public’s expense.
The state legislature ended the 2016 session in the early morning hours of June 19, and we saw some significant victories for nurses and patients in the legislation that passed:
More than 8,000 NYSNA nurses at New York City’s public hospitals and Mayoral agencies have reached a tentative agreement for a new contract with HHC. The settlement includes 19.41% in pay raises, retroactive pay, groundbreaking new funds to support HHC nurses in education and in caring for children or elderly relatives.
Every day New Yorkers know that they can receive the care they need at our public hospitals and agencies – because of the nurses and caregivers who dedicate our lives to carrying out the mission of HHC to care for all patients, regardless of income, or of immigration or insurance status.
Now, hardworking city nurses have reached tentative agreements for a fair union contract.
Camille Petty, RN, has been caring for Bellevue patients for an amazing 60 years. “I work in child psychiatry, and I have former patients who still call me as adults to thank me for helping them when they were young.”
Born and raised in Harlem, Camille entered Bellevue Nursing School in 1954, when she was 17 years old. She developed an interest in nursing from her mother’s love of movies during the World War II era, where she was inspired by strong depictions of wartime nurses in a noble cause.
