Nurses, hospital battle over policy

WILKES-BARRE – Nurses critical of a policy that takes them away from their jobs said they were pressured by Wilkes-Barre General Hospital officials to refrain from making public statements.

Two members of the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals were called to the hospital’s human resources department Monday, said Fran Prusinski, one of the nurses who spoke out against the policy at a public rally.

She and the other nurse who was not identified criticized the policy that directs them to escort patients to the billing department prior to discharge.

Prusinski said she went to the HR department to lend support to another nurse and found out she, too, was the focus of the hospital’s inquiry. “I find this highly inappropriate,” said Prusinski.

They were neither disciplined nor told to stop making comments, but it was clear from the meeting that the hospital was trying to silence the criticism, she said. “As nurses we’re not going to be quiet.”

The meetings are the latest examples of friction between the union and the hospital in ongoing contract negotiations. The next round is set for Aug. 10 and 11.

In a prepared statement the hospital said: “Because the hospital respects the collective bargaining process, it is our practice not to discuss these matters publicly. We remain committed to good faith bargaining and hope a mutually acceptable agreement can be reached soon.”

The nurses held a rally and picket on July 17 to raise public support for the negotiations that began more than a year ago after publicly traded Community Health Services Inc. purchased the hospital and assets of the Wyoming Valley Health Care System for $271 million. In the deal Wilkes-Barre General Hospital became a for-profit business and CHS, the largest owner of hospitals in the country, agreed to recognize the union, but not the existing contract.

A few days before the rally, the National Labor Relations Board ruled against the union that filed complaints alleging, among other things, that the hospital failed to pay a 3.5-percent wage increase in January as called for in the old contract.

The union has filed other complaints with the NLRB, alleging the hospital has refused to provide information necessary for the negotiations and that it has filed a baseless lawsuit challenging an arbitrator’s decision ordering the reinstatement of a fired former union president.

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Union says W-B General officials putting pressure on them after public criticism.

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