One of several hospitals in the city facing an imminent nurses’ strike reached a last-minute deal with the union on Sunday, as a senior doctor at another facility warned of a “really bad situation” if staff had gone out.
Mount Sinai Morningside/West nurses reached a deal with management Sunday afternoon, even as thousands of other nurses prepared to go on strike at 6 a.m. Monday at Mount Sinai’s main campus and Montefiore Hospital in the Bronx.
“It’s not good for us, for the patients… We’re in a really, really bad situation,” he told Mount Sinai midwifery staff at the end of a call Sunday, preparing them for the chance they’ll have to deliver the babies of the their patients at Lenox Hill Hospital or NYU Langone, according to audio obtained by The Post.
The Chief Medical Officer and his team have asked doctors to start calling patients to prepare them for the possibility of a strike and warned them that they may not be able to be present for the delivery ‘they had not received the credentials of the others hospitals .
Mount Sinai Morningside/West is the latest hospital to reach a deal with its nurses after 16,000 members of the New York State Nurses Association called for a walkout Dec. 30, giving affected hospitals 10 days to reach a deal.
Mount Sinai management, which employs 3,628 nurses on its main campus, left negotiations at an impasse on Thursday but returned to the negotiating table on Sunday.
Union leaders say the sprawling medical complex and its competitors are plagued by understaffing and scheduling practices that have left nurses scattered.
“The No. 1 issue is the staffing shortage crisis,” NYSNA President Nancy Hagans told reporters during the negotiations Sunday morning.
The Montefiore emergency room in the Bronx, where the union has 3,476 members, “is often so overcrowded that patients are admitted to beds in a hallway instead of hospital rooms,” Hagans said.
“We are here to negotiate in good faith, to ensure nurses have sufficient resources to care for patients.”
A Mount Sinai representative announced the agreement reached for Mount Sinai Morningside/West and said that “exact pay agreement” was also being offered to nurses on the main campus.
“We continue to negotiate actively and in good faith with NYSNA and hope they will accept our offer, which would provide an additional $51,000 in cash compensation for each nurse and $19,500 in medical and retirement benefits over three years,” spokeswoman Lucia said. Lee in a statement.
“Hopefully they will similarly revoke their strike notice at Mount Sinai Hospital.”
Governor Kathy Hochul said in a statement Sunday, “The New York State Department of Health will continue to enforce statutory staffing requirements at these hospitals to maintain delivery of essential health care services to the community and protect patient health and safety.
“Similarly, the Department of Health will continue to ensure that all suppliers comply with legal requirements.”
