Nurses at NewYork-Presbyterian are putting on their scrubs for the first time in more than a month and returning to work Thursday, marking the end of a historic strike involving nearly 15,000 nurses across three New York City hospital systems.<\/p>\n
Nurses at the other networks, Mount Sinai and Montefiore, began to resume their regular shifts earlier this month. As the dust settles on the 41-day strike, the nurses can point to economic gains, including 12% raises over three years and the preservation of their premium-free health care benefits.<\/p>\n
But other changes in the contracts address a range of contemporary health care issues that could affect ordinary New Yorkers receiving medical care, such as hospital security, staffing levels, ICE enforcement and the use of artificial intelligence.<\/p>\n
The New York State Nurses Association has praised its members for standing up to \u201cgreedy\u201d employers and declared the strike a victory for both nurses and patients. But nurses who spoke to Gothamist had mixed opinions on their new contracts, which were ratified after weeks of picketing in the cold.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe staffing issue was good because we got a whole lot of new full-time employees,\u201d said Shelley Lane, a nurse at NewYork-Presbyterian. The raise, on the other hand, she called \u201chorrible.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ultimately, Lane said, she wished hospitals would have worked to move negotiations along faster. \u201c\u200aI think that they were just trying to prove a point,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The last nurses’ strike in 2023 was resolved after three days with a larger salary boost, commitments to improve nurse staffing levels that had been decimated during the COVID pandemic, and new enforcement mechanisms that would fine hospitals for understaffing. NewYork-Presbyterian incurred a fine for one such staffing violation while the latest contract was being finalized.<\/p>\n
The contracts nurses and hospitals agreed upon in recent weeks maintained and built upon those gains \u2014 but only after a far more tense and drawn-out work stoppage.<\/p>\n
Kenneth Raske, the president and CEO of the Greater New York Hospital Network, said hospitals were far more prepared for this year\u2019s strike and showed their \u201cresolve.\u201d He commended them for largely maintaining operations by hiring thousands of temporary staff \u2014 although some patients still faced<\/a> postponed appointments or surgeries.<\/p>\n Hospitals are also in a different financial position, Raske said. Three years ago, they were getting COVID relief checks from the federal government, whereas now they\u2019re facing federal cuts related to Medicaid and other changes under the Trump administration, he said.<\/p>\n As the strike dragged on, both nurses and hospitals maintained that patients were their top priority. Here are a few aspects of the deals that were reached that could actually affect New Yorkers as they seek out medical care. Gothamist has reviewed copies of agreements with Mount Sinai Hospital, Montefiore Medical Center and NewYork-Presbyterian.<\/p>\n Hiring nurses where they\u2019re needed most<\/p>\n Hospitals had committed to hiring new full-time employees, with targeted head counts for specific units that nurses said were understaffed.<\/p>\n Mount Sinai Hospital, for instance, agreed to hire 47 new full-time employees to staff units such as radiology and psychiatry.<\/p>\n NewYork-Presbyterian agreed to hire about 65 new full-time employees. That\u2019s far fewer than nurses said were needed, according to Beth Loudin, a local union leader at the hospital. But she said she was glad nurses were ultimately able to weigh in on which parts of the hospital were in need of more support.<\/p>\n Loudin added that she hoped new job protections included in the contract might help minimize the effect of any future layoffs.<\/p>\n Expanding weapons detection systems<\/p>\n