UPDATED: Ahead of Potential Strike at Rhode Island Hospital, RIDOH Takes Steps to Ensure Safety

Friday, July 20, 2018

Rachel Nunes, Contributor

 

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Just days before a potential nurse walkout at Rhode Island Hospital, the Rhode Island Department of Health is taking extra precautions to ensure patient safety. On Thursday night, the United Nurses and Allied Professionals Local 5098 voted to strike.

“The Rhode Island Department of Health’s absolute priority during this work stoppage is patient safety and the quality of care,” said Nicole Alexander-Scott, MD, MPH, the Director of the Rhode Island Department of Health. “We prepare year-round for a wide range of challenges at Rhode Island hospitals, and we have been preparing for this particular situation for weeks.”

The United Nurses and Allied Professionals Local 5098 union represents over 2,400 nurses and caregivers at Rhode Island Hospital. Contract negotiations between the union and Lifespan have stalled, leading to UNAP’s release of a 10-day strike notice last Friday.

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Union members are voting Thursday whether to accept the current offer or go on strike. If the plan goes into motion, UNAP members will be out of work for four days, as Lifespan has announced a one-day lockout following the three-day strike. The strike will begin at 3 p.m. on Monday, July 23 and will last through Wednesday, July 25. All union members will return to work on Friday.

Lifespan, meanwhile, maintains that it is prepared in the event of a strike and has contracted temporary staff for four days, saying patient care will not be affected.

Joseph Wendelken, a spokesperson for RIDOH, says the department is always ready for any situation that could affect patient care and has been working overtime since hearing about the possibility of a strike. Measures include speeding up the process of issuing licenses for out-of-state replacement workers to work in Rhode Island and working with hospitals to ensure a plan is in place to maintain care. RIDOH is also coordinating with other area hospitals and EMS services including Sturdy Memorial, Kent, and South County Hospitals so they are prepared for a potential influx of patients. In the event of a strike, RIDOH officials will be on-site at the hospital throughout the work stoppage to ensure patients are being adequately cared for.

Lifespan has come under fire from UNAP after their recent announcement that over $10 million in funds used to secure temporary replacements will come directly from the contract offer, a move the union has called punitive.

UNAP’s president, Linda McDonald, says a decision on the strike will be reached by Thursday night. The decision was not an easy one, she said, as it will directly affect the patients at Rhode Island Hospital. McDonald added that low compensation and poor leadership from Lifespan have caused the hospital to have a high overturn rate within the staff, which also negatively affects patients.

The announcement of the strike comes just over a month after the hospital was penalized by RIDOH for conducting wrong side and wrong person surgeries, and has been forced to pay millions of dollars in fines as a result.

 

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