Registered nurses at Houlton Regional Hospital have been working for a year without a contract and now say they plan to go on a two-day strike, starting on Nov. 18.Nurses and the hospital are negotiating for a new deal after the previous contract expired in November of 2024.Nurses say they’re concerned about staffing and patient care, saying patients are being held in beds throughout the hallways.They also say the closure of the maternity ward at the hospital in July has led to nurses in the emergency department delivering babies in the emergency room and elsewhere.The CEO of Houlton Regional Hospital is now responding to the planned strike.“We are disappointed that the bargaining unit registered nurses have chosen to strike and step away from their patients,” said Jeff Zewe. “We have been meeting regularly with the nurses’ representatives and have made a fair and competitive offer that includes a substantial wage increase over the duration of the contract, along with enhancements to employee benefits.”Zewe says the hospital does have a contingency plan to limit disruption to services for patients during a strike.In September, registered nurses at both Northern Maine Medical Center in Fort Kent and Houlton Regional Hospital in Houlton announced they had voted to authorize their nurse bargaining teams to call a strike if needed.The nurses at both facilities are represented by Maine State Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee. NMMC nurses voted to join MSNA/NNOC in January 2024 and were bargaining for their first union contract. Houlton Regional Hospital is a 25-bed acute care facility that serves the needs of approximately 17,000 people.The hospital opened in 1976 as a result of the mergers of the Aroostook General and Madigan Memorial hospitals.

HOULTON, Maine —

Registered nurses at Houlton Regional Hospital have been working for a year without a contract and now say they plan to go on a two-day strike, starting on Nov. 18.

Nurses and the hospital are negotiating for a new deal after the previous contract expired in November of 2024.

Nurses say they’re concerned about staffing and patient care, saying patients are being held in beds throughout the hallways.

They also say the closure of the maternity ward at the hospital in July has led to nurses in the emergency department delivering babies in the emergency room and elsewhere.

The CEO of Houlton Regional Hospital is now responding to the planned strike.

“We are disappointed that the bargaining unit registered nurses have chosen to strike and step away from their patients,” said Jeff Zewe. “We have been meeting regularly with the nurses’ representatives and have made a fair and competitive offer that includes a substantial wage increase over the duration of the contract, along with enhancements to employee benefits.”

Zewe says the hospital does have a contingency plan to limit disruption to services for patients during a strike.

In September, registered nurses at both Northern Maine Medical Center in Fort Kent and Houlton Regional Hospital in Houlton announced they had voted to authorize their nurse bargaining teams to call a strike if needed.

The nurses at both facilities are represented by Maine State Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee. NMMC nurses voted to join MSNA/NNOC in January 2024 and were bargaining for their first union contract.

Houlton Regional Hospital is a 25-bed acute care facility that serves the needs of approximately 17,000 people.

The hospital opened in 1976 as a result of the mergers of the Aroostook General and Madigan Memorial hospitals.