W-B General nurses sick of staffing issues

Jan. 29--WILKES-BARRE -- Registered nurses at Wilkes-Barre General Hospital continue to struggle with staffing issues as they work under the terms of union contract that expired more than eight months ago, union officials said.

They said staffing levels are unsafe and nurses are still being forced to work overtime, violating Pennsylvania's Act 102.

Community Health Systems, the Tennessee-based corporation that owns the hospital, also has proposed nurses pay 13 more for their health insurance premiums each year and out-of-network prices if they go to a provider outside the health system.

The number of staff at Wilkes-Barre General Hospital has declined since the for-profit Community Health Systems took over Wilkes-Barre General Hospital more than four years ago, union officials said.

"We have a tremendous problem with recruitment and retention of nurses at the hospital," said Terry Marcavage, staff representative for the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals, the union which represents registered nurses at Wilkes-Barre General Hospital.

"When a nurse leaves, they just do not post the position."

Marcavage, Bill Cruice, executive director of PASNAP, and Elaine Weale, a registered nurse in the emergency room at Wilkes-Barre General Hospital and president of the local union, the Wyoming Valley Nurses Association, brought up staffing issues during an editorial board meeting Tuesday.

"We're asking for them to look at posting positions that expedites the filling of positions," Marcavage said. "Clearly, staffing is not sufficient at the hospital if they have to mandate nurses to stay."

Jim McGuire, spokesman for Wilkes-Barre General Hospital, said there are processes in place to ensure overtime is managed in accordance with Pennsylvania's Act 102.

"In each instance where PASNAP has pursued a claim, the Pennsylvania Department of Labor has determined that our hospital has adhered to the law," McGuire said.

In the meantime, Weale said one nurse is often asked to take care of more than eight patients. She said nurses have proposed safe nurse to patio ratios in contract negotiations but "they (CHS) don't even want to talk about it." When nurses are asked to take care of too many patients, that puts patients at risk of infections and complications, she said.

"One nurse can only be in one place at one time," Weale said. "If a nurse has eight patients, hopefully you are not the eighth on her list."

Weale said patients in the emergency room at Wilkes-Barre General Hospital are being forced to wait because CHS "is micromanaging the bed census and the nursing staff to the point you are down to bare bones staff."

There are not enough nurses to take care of all the patients and the sickest are cared for first, she said. Nurses also are being asked to take on other duties like entering information on computers that secretaries formerly did, she said.

"They want nurses at the bedside and they want you to be able to answer the buzzer when a patient rings, but they're giving us more and more," she said. "If they're pulling us more and more away from the bedside, then they need to put more nurses on. They are really micromanaging every penny of the nursing hours."

Staffing issues are prevalent throughout the region, where area hospitals have shed 2,500 jobs in the last five years. For the first time in at least 23 years, the number of hospital jobs in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre metro area sank below 9,000. Between November 2012 and November 2013, employment at general and surgical hospitals dropped from 9,500 to 8,500, the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry estimated.

"Sixty-five percent of the hospital's costs are personnel labor costs," Cruice said. "They know the more people they can shed and the fewer people that they can try to operate with, that's really key to them retaining profit."

More than 450 registered nurses at Wilkes-Barre General Hospital have continued to fight for safe staffing. They walked the picket line in December, originally planning to strike for one day. Community Health Systems, however, hired temporary replacement nurses for three days and locked the nurses out for two more days.

Negotiations are scheduled for Feb. 4 and Feb. 18.

"Since last year, Wilkes-Barre General Hospital has been negotiating in good faith with PASNAP, with the objective of reaching a mutually acceptable agreement," McGuire said. "We remain committed to the collective bargaining process and to maintaining a positive relationship with our employees."

dallabaugh@citizensvoice.com, 570-821-2115

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