Unionized nurses in Massachusetts are asking the state to deploy impartial displays at three hospitals run by Tenet Healthcare due to what they allege are security violations.
Representatives from the Massachusetts Nurses Affiliation anticipated to debate their issues Tuesday at a gathering with the state public well being commissioner. The union has claimed, in a number of complaints filed with the state, that staffing and tools shortages are jeopardizing affected person care on the firm’s three Massachusetts amenities.
“It is a very harmful state of affairs on each ground, day by day,” mentioned David Schildmeier, a spokesman for the Massachusetts Nurses Affiliation, which represents about 70% of unionized nurses within the state.
Tenet, a for-profit firm based mostly in Dallas, denied the union’s allegations. However union officers advised WBUR they plan to press state officers for stronger oversight of Tenet, which they accused of implementing cost-cutting measures on the expense of sufferers.
“I hope the commissioner will take heed to what the nurses are saying and can step in and do what they should do to make sure that sufferers are cared for safely,” mentioned Mary Sue Howlett, affiliate director of nursing for the union. “The state must guarantee that there’s sufficient staffing, the tools is in there and practical and sufferers are effectively cared for.”
There may be precedent for putting displays inside Massachusetts hospitals. State officers took an analogous step at amenities operated by Steward Well being Care, one other for-profit firm, when its monetary issues burst into public view. Steward later filed for chapter.
Tenet operates greater than 40 hospitals throughout the nation. Its Massachusetts amenities embrace St. Vincent Hospital in Worcester, Framingham Union Hospital in Framingham and Leonard Morse Hospital in Natick. Framingham Union and Leonard Morse are identified collectively as MetroWest Medical Middle.
The Massachusetts Nurses Affiliation has filed seven complaints with state well being officers towards Tenet amenities previously 12 months, in addition to submitting complaints with federal well being care regulatory businesses.
The latest criticism, filed final month with the state Division of Public Well being, centered on St. Vincent Hospital. The union alleged that insufficient staffing in crucial care items on the facility resulted in two affected person deaths in September.
Each sufferers required dialysis remedy, however in line with the criticism there weren’t sufficient nurses on obligation to supply the very best stage of care. One affected person’s remedy was lower quick and the opposite died earlier than receiving dialysis remedy, the criticism mentioned. Union leaders mentioned they notified the state of their issues concerning the deaths on the time.
The 18-page criticism additionally outlined dozens of different alleged cases when affected person security at Saint Vincent Hospital was put in danger. The union cited understaffing, a scarcity of communication, improperly sterilized hospital tools, restrictions on nurses’ entry to IV fluids and a rise in sufferers experiencing hospital-acquired strain ulcers.
Nurses at St. Vincent mentioned they’re pissed off that a number of complaints haven’t prompted state officers to ship in displays, as they did for the previous Steward hospitals.
“We won’t assist however assume that each one of those complaints are simply happening the drain, and no one cares about them,” mentioned Carla LeBlanc, who’s been a nurse at St. Vincent for eight years.
State well being officers earlier confirmed investigations of Tenet medical facilities in Massachusetts. Final week, a spokesperson for the Division of Public Well being mentioned in an announcement that the state “takes all complaints significantly and is dedicated to making sure that hospitals meet their obligations to supply secure, environment friendly, high-quality well being look after all sufferers.”
“The Division has investigated prior complaints about Saint Vincent Hospital and carried out quite a few onsite visits to evaluate their care,” the assertion mentioned.
In a written assertion, a spokesperson for Tenet described the union’s complaints as a “publicity stunt,” and referred to as on union members to collaborate with the hospital to deal with staffing challenges, citing a nationwide scarcity of well being care staff.
“The MNA’s accusations are disrespectful to the devoted nurses, physicians and employees at Saint Vincent Hospital who prioritize caring for our sufferers,” Tenet spokesman Shawn Middleton mentioned within the assertion. “There is no such thing as a doubt that these unfounded assaults are associated to imminent negotiations with the union at Saint Vincent, a tactic that the union makes use of in reference to contract negotiations with just about all different methods throughout the state.”
Nurses at St. Vincent Hospital went on strike in 2021 throughout a contract dispute. When the strike lastly ended almost 10 months later, it had develop into the longest nurses strike in state historical past. The nurses’ present contract expires on the finish of 2025.
The allegations towards Tenet come as Massachusetts continues to take care of the fallout from the chapter of Steward Well being Care. Dallas-based Steward was one of many largest for-profit hospital operators within the nation and the third-largest in Massachusetts.
Two Steward hospitals within the state, Nashoba Valley Medical Middle and Carney Hospital, closed as a result of no credible consumers emerged to take them over. The closures sparked issues about emergency response providers and different well being care disruptions for sufferers.
State officers had been intently concerned in negotiating gross sales of 5 different Steward hospitals to nonprofit operators and have poured hundreds of thousands of {dollars} into serving to them keep open.
Not like Steward, Tenet is a publicly traded firm that just lately reported robust funds. However Alan Sager, a professor on the Boston College Faculty of Public Well being mentioned higher state oversight is required of well being care.
“We’re spending some huge cash on well being care and we’re not getting our cash’s value,” Sager mentioned. “For-profit well being care is among the worst sectors the place we simply cannot belief them with our cash, and state supervision has typically been weak.
The menace Steward’s monetary woes posed to the state’s well being care system impressed the current passage of a legislation geared toward rising state oversight of hospitals. Gov. Maura Healey remains to be reviewing that invoice.
