Letter from Catholic Health Workers to Bishop Fisher

September 27, 2021

Bishop Michael W. Fisher 795 Main Street
Buffalo, NY 14203

Dear Bishop Fisher,

As Catholic healthcare workers working at Mercy Hospital, we would like to meet with you to share our views on the situation at Mercy.

Many of us have worked for Catholic Health for years or even decades. We came to work at Mercy Hospital because we wanted to live out our Christian calling by caring for the sick.

We have grown disheartened by the hospital’s evolution over recent years, with workloads for healthcare workers steadily increasing. As each nurse and health care aide is asked to care for more and more patients, environmental service workers cleaning more rooms, and technicians and dietary workers given more work with less staff, stress levels have skyrocketed, and the work environment has become toxic. Management does not seem to care. Mercy Hospital is a very different place than it was when the Sisters ran it.

The dangerously low nurse-to-patient staffing ratios are not just affecting us, they are affecting our patients. We are not able to give our patients the care they need and deserve – causing more and more of our staff to leave the hospital in despair.

We believe that the current labor negotiations offer an opportunity to address these problems but fear that management is not giving you and the other stakeholders an accurate description of the situation at the hospital. We ask only that you meet with our committee and listen to our concerns.

Thank you for your consideration in this matter.

We are keeping you in our prayers!

Very Truly Yours,

Catholic Healthcare Workers Committee of Mercy Hospital

Linda Bain, RN, 7 West, Cardiac Step-Down Unit St. Teresa’s Catholic Parish

Kate Carr, RN, Retired Our Lady of Charity

Diane Barth, Surgical Tech, Operating Room Our Lady of Charity Parish

Kimberly Sontag, RN, 7 West, Cardiac Step-Down Unit St. George Church

Molly O’Neil, RN, Float Pool St. Martin of Tours

Meghan Urbaniak, RN, 6 West InfantofPrague Parish

Judy Bondanza, CT Technician, retired St. Gabriel’s Church

Elizabeth Clancy, RN, 5 North/ 5 Central Queen of Heaven Parish

Michelle Burgos, RN, 6 West St. Teresa’s Catholic Parish

Colleen Kelleher, Emergency Room Secretary St. Teresa’s Catholic Parish

Maureen McAllister, RN, Operating Room St. Martin of Tours

Sharon Kozlowski, Sterile Processing Technician Our Lady Basilica

Patricia Wozniak, Radiology Technician, retired St.MartinsofTours

Terri Legierski, Medical Transcription, Retired Queen of Heaven Parish