BOSTON (WHDH) – Mass General Brigham sent a cease-and-desist letter to the Massachusetts Nurses Association Friday over “significant noise” related to the nurses and technician’s strike that began Wednesday, the healthcare company announced.
In a statement, Mass General Brigham wrote, “We have heard concerns from patients, families, visitors, staff, and nearby residents about the significant noise and activity outside the hospital, particularly overnight. Because this disruption is affecting residents and the hospital’s healing environment and creating challenges for patients and care teams, this afternoon we sent a cease-and-desist letter to the Massachusetts Nurses Association regarding excessive noise and other disruptive activities associated with the picketing, and we will be sharing a letter of apology with our neighbors.
We respect the union’s right to picket. Our concern is not the picketing itself, but conduct that interferes with patient care, access to the hospital, our regular medical equipment deliveries, and the environment our patients need to heal.
Our focus remains on ensuring patients, families, visitors, and staff can safely access the hospital and that care continues without disruption.”
The announcement comes after Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey appeared at the picket line outside Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston Friday, urging both sides to resolve the dispute as quickly as possible.
The Massachusetts Nurses Association said the work stoppage, the largest nursing strike in state history, is to force Mass General Brigham back to the bargaining table. The union said the strike was centered on disagreements over wages and insurance costs.
“We are all here today because when nurses fight for better conditions, they are fighting for the benefit of all of us – hospital workers, patients and the local community,” one nurse said. “You can’t deliver the best care when hospital systems refuse to invest in the people that make that care possible, and that is exactly what is happening here.”
The one-day strike occurred Wednesday, but nurses have since been locked out of the hospital and will not be allowed back in for another three days. The hospital said it hired 1,300 temporary nurses on the day of the strike, and it is obligated to offer those nurses five straight days of work.
Family members of Brigham and Women’s Hospital patients said they have noticed a stark difference in the quality of care since the nurses went on strike.
“They need the nurses back now,” said Lynda Rivers, the daughter of a patient. “The difference in care and the difference in attention is stunning, and enough that I cried and went to a police officer to try and get help because I didn’t think I could leave my dad in there.”
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