The University of Chicago Medical Center was in the process of making several operational changes on Monday, including moving some patients to other hospitals, in preparation for a possible nurses' strike on Friday, UCMC leaders said in a memo to staff.
More than 2,200 hundred nurses represented by the National Nurses Organizing Committee/National Nurses United could go on strike if an agreement isn’t reached by Friday.
In the letter sent to staff, UCMC officials said their “bargaining team will continue to work hard toward a contract,” however a union representative said on Monday that the hospital continued to deny the main issue.
“Over the last 18 months we have filed 1,700 forms that have dealt with nurses saying that staffing is not safe, and they’re forced to take assignments that are not safe for them,” said nurse Johnny Webb with National Nurses United.
As of Sunday night, the hospital had already closed four units, according to the letter sent to staff. The hospital’s transfer center has also been closed since Sept. 13.
In addition to moving patients from its Neonatal Intensive Care and Pediatric Intensive Care units, the hospital will also place both its pediatric and adult emergency departments on diversion, sending ambulances to other hospitals.
UCMC will also reschedule some elective surgeries and appointments in certain clinics.
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“…We anticipate ambulatory clinic operations will go largely uninterrupted,” Dr. Kenneth Polonsky, executive vice president for medical affairs at the University of Chicago, and Sharon O’Keefe, hospital president, said in the joint letter to staff. “But we will be closely monitoring the situation based on staffing resources, and will notify patients accordingly."
Nurses argued that they have worked without a contract since April, and were still waiting on a counter offer as of Monday. Nurses contended a one-day strike is what they need to do to be heard.
“None of us want to leave patients,” Webb said. “But if this is what it takes to get the point across, it’s what we’re willing to do.”
