MADISON (WKOW) — Nurses at St. Mary’s and Dean-SSM Health clinics are making plans to organize a union, making public announcements Thursday.

The SSM nurses are working with Service Employees International Union (SEIU) organization, which represents healthcare workers including those at Meriter Hospital. Nurses held rallies at the Meriter and UW Health buildings in Madison on Thursday to demonstrate support for the union.

According to an open letter, hundreds of nurses are calling for demands including more time spent with patients for care, higher compensation, ending the weekend call-out policy and mandatory time off, and new staffing models that assign nurses depending on patient care needs instead of patient numbers, among others.

SSM Health released the following statement:

At SSM Health, we work hard to cultivate a supportive and collaborative work environment where every employee is treated with respect and compassion. We provide fair and just market-based wages and benefits because it is the right thing to do. We strive to ensure that our team thrives so that they can do their best work in realizing our Mission to provide exceptional patient care.

SSM Health respects the right of its employees to make a free and informed choice as to whether or not they wish to be represented by a union. However, we believe it is unnecessary and would get between the direct, open, and cooperative relationship we have established with our team. Having a direct employee relationship provides us with an opportunity to listen, problem solve and make improvements together in real time. It also affords us an immediate opportunity to recognize individual contributions and more responsively address individual concerns in a more personalized way.

Health care systems must operate in an environment shaped by rising costs, evolving regulations, workforce shortages, and rapidly advancing technology. We must balance patient care, employee well-being, and financial sustainability which requires flexibility, collaboration, and timely decision-making best accomplished without the addition of a third party.

This is an ongoing event, and more information will be published as it moves forward.