Update: LoHud reports many Montefiore New Rochelle Hospital nurses say they’re not allowed to go back to work after a two-day strike that they ended Thursday morning.
The union representing the nurses said dozens of nurses have been locked out throughout the day and they’re hearing “concerning reports,” such as COVID-19 patients and non-COVID-19 patients being mixed together on the same floor.
Montefiore leadership said in an emailed statement Thursday afternoon that the return-to-work policy was “clearly outlined in a letter delivered to MNR nurses and NYSNA leadership on Friday.”
previously:
The state nurses’ union is striking at Montefiore New Rochelle Hospital to protest what they see as a lack of safety for patients and themselves.
“We’re the ones that worked through COVID… We’re the ones that held our patients hands. We’re the ones that prayed with our patients,” Kathy Santoiemma, a registered nurse at Montefiore New Rochelle told a reporter at CBS2.
“They continue to staff the hospital at an unacceptable level and it puts nurses in harms way. It puts patients in harms way and it’s unacceptable,” said David Nightingale, a registered nurse.
“We have nurses who’ve died. We have people who’ve died, who’ve worked here for lack of PPE, for improper care, improper staffing and training. That’s what this strike is about,” said Judy Sheridan-Gonzalez, with the New York State Nurses Association.
This comes at a crucial time when the need for hospital beds is increasing in New Rochelle, where the 7-day rolling average of COVID cases is now at 6.19 percent.
