NYSNA nurses held an emergency rally and press conference outside NYC Health+Hospitals (H+H) Kings County Hospital on Oct. 22, demanding the immediate reinstatement of Sarah Dowd, a neurocritical care ICU nurse practitioner and vice president of the hospital’s Local Bargaining Unit.

Dowd was suspended without pay on Oct. 9 and barred from all H+H facilities without any formal charges filed by Kings County Hospital management following what her colleagues describe as protected union activity.

Her colleagues say the suspension was a coordinated effort by Labor Relations and hospital management to stop nurses from organizing and advocating for the enforcement of state-mandated staffing ratios and safe-staffing policies.

NYSNA nurses rally outside Kings County Hospital on Oct. 22 to demand the immediate reinstatement of Sarah Dowd, a nurse practitioner suspended without pay following what colleagues describe as protected union activity.Photo by Gabriele Holtermann Nurses and supporters gather outside NYC Health+Hospitals Kings County Hospital in Brooklyn to protest the suspension of Sarah Dowd and call for safer staffing conditions.Photo by Gabriele Holtermann

Two weeks ago, Dowd, who has worked at NYC H+H for almost 10 years, made rounds at the hospital on her day off to support colleagues facing chronic understaffing despite mandated staffing ratios. She also advocated for patient safety and discussed documented, long-standing staffing concerns. Afterward, she received a letter from management suspending her for “misconduct” without further explanation.

Jack McShane, a NYSNA member and emergency department nurse at Kings County Hospital, said nurses often care for eight to nine patients, and sometimes as many as 12 or 13, despite a five-patient maximum mandated by their union contract and New York state staffing law.

He also highlighted the emergency department’s boarding crisis. At one of the busiest emergency departments in the country, patients often spend days on stretchers before being transferred to inpatient beds. McShane said Dowd’s suspension was an effort by hospital management to bust union activity.

“This is a fight to protect our rights to enforce our safe staffing ratios, to fight for healthcare worker and patient safety and to organize our union. This is about whether or not we as nurses are going to accept a culture of intimidation and retaliation, where we aren’t allowed to discuss and organize around working conditions with our co-workers. I’ll tell you right now: we will not!”

Nurses and supporters gather outside NYC Health+Hospitals Kings County Hospital in Brooklyn to protest the suspension of Sarah Dowd and call for safer staffing conditions.Photo by Gabriele Holtermann Jack McShane, a NYSNA member and emergency department nurse at Kings County Hospital, speaks at an Oct. 22 rally demanding Sarah Dowd’s reinstatement and better staffing conditions.Photo by Gabriele Holtermann

Marie Telusma, an ambulatory care nurse who has worked at Kings County Hospital for nearly 13 years, called Dowd’s suspension “extreme and unjust,” warning that it could set a precedent for union nurses who speak up in the future.

“We are not just fighting for one nurse. We are standing up for every nurse who has ever been afraid to speak, every nurse who has felt silence, and every future nurse who deserves to enter a profession where advocacy is respected and not punished,” Telusma said. “We know our rights, we know our worth, and we know the power of solidarity. Today, we are drawing a line. We are making our message loud and clear. We will not allow fear to replace respect. We will not allow intimidation to replace empowerment. We will not stand silently while the rights of our fellow nurses are threatened.”

NYSNA nurses and supporters call on Kings County Hospital management to reinstate Sarah Dowd with back pay and protect nurses’ rights to organize and advocate for patient safety.Photo by Gabriele Holtermann State Sen. Jabari Brisport and New York state Assembly candidate David Orkin (left) join NYSNA members outside Kings County Hospital to call for Sarah Dowd’s reinstatement and urge hospital management to address unsafe staffing ratios.Photo by Gabriele Holtermann

State Sen. Jabari Brisport (D-Brooklyn) reminded Kings County Hospital management that nurses fought to keep SUNY Downstate open when it faced possible closure, which would have placed an enormous strain on Kings County Hospital.

“Because of the coalition that was assembled of nurses, of teachers, of all youths in the labor movement, of faith leaders, of politicians, we kept SUNY Downstate open. And yet here we are, just a few years later, seeing unsafe ratios and Sarah suspended,” he said. “To the bosses at Kings County: that’s not how you say ‘thank you.’ That’s how you say, ‘F you.’ Fix the ratios, hire more nurses, and reinstate Sarah now.”

A petition demanding Dowd’s immediate reinstatement with back pay has garnered nearly 1,000 signatures from nurses, ancillary staff and physicians at Kings County Hospital Center. NYSNA, which represents about 45,000 members across New York state, also announced plans to file an improper practice charge against the health system.

“We are talking about an experienced and dedicated nurse practitioner being suspended without pay for advocating for the tools needed to improve safety and patient care. That is unacceptable, and we are so pleased that our Health+Hospitals frontline staff and Brooklyn community is protesting this egregious act of worker intimidation,” NYSNA President Nancy Hagans said in a statement.

NYSNA nurses and supporters call on Kings County Hospital management to reinstate Sarah Dowd with back pay and protect nurses’ rights to organize and advocate for patient safety.Photo by Gabriele Holtermann NYSNA nurses and supporters call on Kings County Hospital management to reinstate Sarah Dowd with back pay and protect nurses’ rights to organize and advocate for patient safety.Photo by Gabriele Holtermann

NYSNA Executive Director Pat Kane expressed her “profound” disappointment in NYC H+H. Rather than targeting NYSNA members advocating for safe staffing, Kane said, the hospital system should provide a lifeline to New Yorkers losing access to care because of federal attacks on health care, as it did during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“As frontline experts in patient care, we are always preparing for the next healthcare crisis and advocating for enough staff and resources to deliver quality care to every patient,” Kane said. “At a time when thousands of immigrant healthcare workers have lost their jobs and we can expect an influx of uninsured and underinsured patients to flood city hospitals, the H+H administration should be working with NYSNA nurses to address chronic understaffing, not fighting against us and unfairly disciplining nurses for being patient advocates.”

Brooklyn Paper has reached out to NYC Health+Hospitals for comment and is awaiting a response.