{"id":39835,"date":"2025-11-14T20:17:11","date_gmt":"2025-11-14T20:17:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/39835\/"},"modified":"2025-11-14T20:17:11","modified_gmt":"2025-11-14T20:17:11","slug":"nysna-nurses-call-for-healthcare-protection-during-week-of-action-brooklyn-paper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/39835\/","title":{"rendered":"NYSNA nurses call for healthcare protection during week of action \u2022 Brooklyn Paper"},"content":{"rendered":"

New York State Nurses Association<\/a> (NYSNA) nurses continued their second week of action at rallies from Manhattan to Brooklyn, demanding safe staffing to ensure proper patient care and a fair contract, which expires on Dec. 31, 2025, for the approximately 20,000 NYSNA nurses who work at 12 private-sector hospitals.<\/p>\n

While NYSNA nurses are fighting for safe staffing, reverse staff and service cuts that harm patient care, stronger safety and workplace violence protections, guardrails on the use of artificial intelligence in patient care, and fair wages and benefits to recruit and retain enough nurses for quality care, the total compensation for Montefiore<\/a>, Mount Sinai,<\/a> and NewYork-Presbyterian CEOs<\/a>, including salaries, benefits, and perks, increased by over 54% from 2020 to 2023 according to 990 tax filings -New York-Presbyterian CEO Steve Corwin earned $14,6 million in 2023, or $40,000 per day, earning more money in two days than most New York City families make in an entire year. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Additionally, Mount Sinai invested $100 million in an AI facility.\n<\/p>\n

At a rally outside Maimonides Health <\/a>in Boro Park on Nov. 13 \u2014 the health care provider is one of the private-sector hospitals \u2014 NYSNA nurses and local pols mobilized, demanding that safety-net hospitals such as Maimonides ensure safe staffing and protect healthcare in New York ahead of the Trump administration\u2019s impending healthcare cuts. New York could lose $4.9 billion in federal funding<\/a> for the healthcare system and likely see an increase in the number of uninsured New Yorkers.<\/p>\n

\"\"NYSNA nurses rallied outside Maimonides Hospital for a fair contract. Photo by Gabriele Holtermann \"\"NYSNA nurses rallied outside Maimonides Hospital for a fair contract. Photo by Gabriele Holtermann<\/p>\n

Russell Pinsker has worked as a registered nurse at Maimonides for eight years and currently works in the Open Heart ICU.\n<\/p>\n

Pinsker told the Brooklyn Paper that the hospital was chronically understaffed, noting that more nurses would lead to better care for patients.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cWe give 150%, and we need enough staff, so we can do our jobs and provide the care that the patients and the community need,\u201d Pinsker said. \u201cWe can\u2019t work overtime every single day. Nurses deserve time to take care of themselves so they can come in the next day and take care of the next person. How can you take care of others if you can\u2019t take care of yourself?\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Russell Pinske, a registered nurse at Maimonides, noted that the hospital was chronically understaffed. Photo by Gabriele Holtermann<\/p>\n

Pinsker, a member of the bargaining committee, told the crowd that they had made little progress since the last bargaining session six weeks ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis time around, we are bargaining against a totally different group of people, and they made it clear that they do not share the same priorities as we do, which is, first and foremost, safe, patient care,\u201d Pinsker shared.<\/p>\n

Pinsker\u2019s mother, Margaret, a retired registered nurse after 47 years of service, was concerned about her retirement benefits.
\n\"\"Margaret Pinsker, a retired registered nurse after 47 years of service, was concerned about her retirement benefits. Photo by Gabriele Holtermann\n<\/p>\n

\u201cNurses have always fought for all the benefits we have enjoyed over the years. Now the hospital is trying to take some of them away,\u201d Margaret Picker said. \u201cLosing our retirement health benefits will create hardship on us, our families, and our health system, especially at this time when healthcare costs are becoming unaffordable.\u201d<\/p>\n

His colleague, Emily Hansen, a registered nurse working on Maimonides\u2019 surgical floor, pointed out that during the COVID-19 pandemic, nurses were celebrated as heroes; once the pandemic was over, they were demoted to \u201czeros.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cA hospital can\u2019t run without nurses. We are the foundation,\u201d Hansen told Brooklyn Paper. \u201cOf course, we work together with our doctors and our management, but nurses are the foundation. As much as you want us to give the best care to our patients, we deserve the best care for ourselves, for when we have to see our own doctors and care for our own families.\u201d<\/p>\n

NYSNA President Nancy Hagans, a registered nurse and critical care expert, said hospitals had to step up, stop \u201cplaying games\u201d with artificial intelligence, and invest in patient care.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve watched hospitals like Mount Sinai attempt to veil the extent to which they\u2019ve prioritized their money-making ventures over the patients of this city,\u201d Hagans said. \u201cWe\u2019re here to say enough is enough. Nurses, who have been on the frontlines of caring for patients and have been ruthless in their fight to protect federal healthcare funding, are demanding hospitals do their part.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Local pols stressed that nurses were on the front lines of patient care.\n<\/p>\n

City Council Member Mercedes Narcisse (D-Brooklyn), a registered nurse and the Chair of the Council\u2019s Committee on Hospitals, had one message for hospital administrators and CEOs.
\n\"\"Council Member elect Kayla Santosuosso, Council Members Alexa Avil\u00e9s and Crystal Hudson, joined their colleague Mercedes Narcisse. Photo by Gabriele Holtermann\n<\/p>\n

\u201c[If] you don\u2019t have nurses, you don\u2019t have a hospital,\u201d Narcisse declared. \u201d We put our lives in danger every day, we care, and we\u2019re delivering high-quality health care to everyone. So right now, all we want is our fair share and a fair contract for all of us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Crystal Hudson\u2019s mother worked as a registered nurse at Harlem Hospital for 30 years. The pol, who represents the neighborhoods of Crown Heights, Prospect Heights, Clinton Hill, and Fort Greene, recalled that her mother always put her patients first.<\/p>\n

\"\"Council Member Crystal Hudson\u2019s mother worked as a registered nurse at Harlem Hospital for 30 years. Photo by Gabriele Holtermann<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to make sure that every nurse has the contract that they deserve, has the benefits that they deserve, has the pay that they deserve to keep our communities safe,\u201d Hudson declared.<\/p>\n

Assembly Member Rodneyse Bichotte echoed Narcisse and Hudson\u2019s sentiments, calling for a fair contract.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cOur nurses sacrifice their lives every single day, working night shifts, day shifts, long hours, just to protect us,\u201d Bichotte said.\n<\/p>\n

Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso introduced himself as the \u201cpresident of the greatest borough in New York City.\u201d
\n\"\"Brooklyn Borough President noted that nurses were the foundational parts of a world-class health care system. Photo by Gabriele Holtermann\n<\/p>\n

\u201cBut we can\u2019t be the greatest borough in the city without a world-class health system. The foundational parts of the world-class health care system are our nurses,\u201d Reynoso said.<\/p>\n

Sam Miller, vice president for Marketing and Communications at Maimonides Health, told Brooklyn Paper in a statement that Maimonides\u2019 nurses are critical to providing the outstanding care that communities expect and deserve.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are confident that we will reach a contract agreement with NYSNA that allows us to build on our success into the future,\u201d Miller wrote in an email.\n<\/p>\n

Brooklyn Paper has reached out to Montefiore, Mount Sinai, and NewYork-Presbyterian hospitals for comment, but did not hear back by publication.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) nurses continued their second week of action at rallies from Manhattan to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":39836,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[23181,98,100,99,23182,23183,4429,23184,7771,23185,9,24,23186,370,23187,63,23188,23189,3941,23190,3543,23191],"class_list":["post-39835","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-brooklyn","tag-borough-president-antonio-reynoso","tag-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn-headlines","tag-brooklyn-news","tag-council-member-mercedes-narcisse","tag-council-member-crystal-hudson","tag-healthcare","tag-maimoinides-medical-center","tag-montefiore","tag-mount-sinai","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-new-york-presbyterian","tag-newsletter","tag-nurses","tag-nyc","tag-nysna-nurses","tag-nysna-president-nancy-hagans","tag-patient-care","tag-rodneyse-bichotte","tag-union","tag-union-contract"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39835","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39835"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39835\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39836"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39835"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39835"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39835"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}