BREAKING: Workers at Catholic Health’s Mercy Hospital Set October 1 Strike Date as Staffing Crisis Reaches Breaking Point

For Immediate Release: September 21, 2021
Contact:
Rendy Desamours, 516.406.6637
Jahad Carter, 336.912.3423
cwabuffalo@berlinrosen.com 

BREAKING: Workers at Catholic Health’s Mercy Hospital Set October 1 Strike Date as Staffing Crisis Reaches Breaking Point

Decision to strike comes as new survey of frontline Catholic Health workers shows that severe staffing shortages are affecting quality of patient care, fueling high turnover 

Buffalo, NY - Nurses, technologists, clerical staff, and other service workers at Catholic Health System’s Mercy Hospital announced Tuesday that they will go on strike on October 1 if a contract settlement is not reached by then. The workers--represented by the Communications Workers of America-- are taking action to stand up for patients in Buffalo because Catholic Health is refusing to settle a fair contract that will allow the hospital system to attract and retain the workers needed to provide care to the community.

“We are going on strike for our patients and for our community,” said Tina Knop, a Critical Care Registered Nurse at Mercy Hospital. “We have risked our lives over the last 18 months providing care to Buffalo during the pandemic, and despite a terrible staffing crisis, shortages of supplies and a hospital management that won’t listen to our concerns, we continue to do everything we can every day to provide the best possible patient care. But Catholic Health is ignoring our sacrifices.” 

“Catholic Health’s refusal to offer a fair contract continues to jeopardize the health and well-being of our patients,” said Cheryl Darling, Immediate Treatment Assistant at Mercy Hospital. “There is no excuse for a hospital system where executives pull in millions in compensation to refuse to invest in frontline staff and make it impossible for us to provide the care to our patients they deserve. We are at a breaking point.”

As COVID-19 cases rise in Erie County, a new survey of more than 500 registered nurses, technical, service and clerical staff employed by Catholic Health’s Kenmore Mercy, Mercy and St. Joseph's hospitals reveals how dire the conditions at Catholic Health hospitals have become and nearly universal concerns over understaffing, threats to patient care, supply shortages, high turnover and low pay.

Seventy percent of respondents say they have seen patients be neglected or suffer needlessly because of staffing shortages. Only ten percent say patients are receiving the quality care they need. Ninety-eight percent say their hospital is struggling to retain staff, and the vast majority cite concerns over care quality, staffing shortages, low pay, poor working conditions and Catholic Health’s refusal to settle a fair contract as the reasons for turnover. 

Additional findings include:

• More than half of respondents say they have been forced to do work they were not trained for due to understaffing

• Over 90% say that Catholic Health has failed to take adequate measures to solve understaffing 

• Over 70% reported that their hospital lacked the equipment and supplies they needed to adequately perform their roles.

• Respondents listed PPE, vials, cleaning supplies, blood pressure cuffs, bath blankets and more as being consistently low in supply

Survey respondents shared harrowing accounts of patients sitting soiled for hours, falling trying to get to the restroom themselves, not getting fed in a timely manner and waiting hours for medication. 

One nurse at Mercy Hospital said, “I had a patient pull out a feeding tube. It was completely preventable—had there been staff. This patient wasn’t able to swallow and ended up refusing to get the tube reinserted.”

Another nurse said that conditions feel so unsafe for patients and workers that she “has told loved ones not to come to Mercy if they are sick because the conditions are horrendous.” 

One worker described an instance where there were four nurses total in the emergency room with over 27 patients, an incredibly unsafe ratio. Furthermore, certain staff members did not have the proper ER training yet were forced to assist because of staffing shortages.  

The full results of the survey can be found here. 

“Catholic Health’s proposals fail to attract the staff we need to provide an adequate level of care or make the commitment to increased staffing levels needed to ensure that we can provide the quality of care our community deserves,” said Jamie Banks, a Radiology Technologist at Mercy Hospital. “Catholic Health pays executives million-dollar salaries while we are pushed to the brink and our patients suffer. We have absolutely no desire to strike, but it seems like only a strike will force executives to address the slow-motion disaster unfolding every day in the Catholic Health System.” 

Buffalo community expresses support for Catholic Health workers

"Time and time again throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, we’ve heard people talk about our Frontline Heroes - the individuals who are risking their own health and safety, putting their lives on the line every day to provide care and comfort for those who are affected by this devastating virus. Without question, it's time we stand up for them," said Senator Tim Kennedy. "I urge Catholic Health to come to the bargaining table in good faith so these selfless, essential workers have the resources they need to deliver the highest standard of care."

“Throughout the pandemic, we have hailed the incredible and selfless work of our nurses and other healthcare professionals,” said New York State Senator Sean Ryan. “These workers have always been essential, and it has been inspiring to see our society recognize them like never before. Now, it’s time for the leadership of Catholic Health to listen to these essential workers, recognize their invaluable service, and deliver a fair contract to ensure all our hospital workers are able to care for our community.”

“I commend the workers at Mercy Hospital for standing up for quality patient care and the safety of the Buffalo community, which is being jeopardized due to inaction by Catholic Health,” said Assemblymember Pat Burke. “The hospital system has a duty to ensure that patients in their care remain safe and right now, that isn’t happening. These workers feel they have no other option but to strike because Catholic Health won’t put measures in place to keep them and their patients safe. I support the workers who are striking in order to stand up for the community’s health and well-being.”

"Nurses have been overworked and undervalued for too long in our society. They save lives and provide comfort in desperate times and at a minimum, they deserve adequate pay and safe working conditions,” said Erie County Legislature Chairwoman April Baskin. “I will be eternally grateful for the care I received when I gave birth to my son last year. Nurses have been on the front lines of the most difficult public health crisis in a century, and I am proud to stand with them."

“New Yorkers stand with Catholic Health workers as they fight for a fair contract and high-quality patient care,” said Jim Anderson, Vice President of Citizen Action. “It is shameful that Catholic Health executives are turning their backs on our heroic essential workers, who risked their own health to save the lives of our friends, family and neighbors during the pandemic. It is clear that the meager proposal put forward by Catholic Health will only deepen the staffing crisis at our hospitals, and it is time for them to stand with workers and patients.” 

Last week, 25 elected officials from the Buffalo region sent a letter to Catholic Health CEO Mark Sullivan, saying “no one in management appears to grasp the magnitude of the crisis workers are experiencing,” and that the “concessions being proposed by management are completely unacceptable to the heroes who got us through last year. We urgently request a meeting with you to discuss this situation and urge you to adopt a new, more conciliatory, and concerned stance with regard to the workers who keep your institutions working every day."

Residents of Buffalo have been joining with the hospital workers and calling on Catholic Health to address staffing shortages. Over 1,600 people have signed a petition asking Catholic Health to settle a fair contract with the workers and undergo efforts to attract and retain more staff.

Background information

CWA represents more than 2,500 nurses, technologists, clerical staff, and other service workers at Catholic Health’s Mercy Hospital of Buffalo, Kenmore Mercy Hospital and Sisters of Charity Hospital-St. Joseph’s Campus, who have been raising concerns about staffing issues for months. Earlier this month, workers in the nursing, cleaning and dietary departments at Catholic Health’s Mercy Hospital of Buffalo voted overwhelmingly with 97 percent support to authorize a strike. Their union contract expires September 30. 

Hundreds of new hires are needed to ensure safe staffing levels, leaving the remaining staff exhausted and increasingly concerned over their ability to provide adequate patient care as COVID-19 cases increase in Erie County. Staff have reported routinely working through lunch hours and breaks because coverage is unavailable. Nurses have reported working 12-hour shifts in the ICU with zero breaks, and a lack of necessary supplies to do their jobs properly, including basic essentials like urinals, pillows, sheets, blankets, washcloths, thermometers, vitals machines, blood tubes and syringes. These frontline workers are calling for the establishment of safe staffing ratios to help ensure quality patient care, but Catholic Health refuses.

Rather than working to address understaffing at its hospitals, Catholic Health seeks a contract that, between a massive increase in out of pocket health care costs and the impact of inflation, would translate into major pay cuts for workers over the life of the agreement, a move that will make it even harder to attract and retain the nursing and care staff Buffalo needs. Meanwhile, Mark Sullivan brings home $1 million in salary, and the top 11 administrators made more than $7 million combined in 2019. 

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