Add Your Name in Support of NYSNA Nurses

Paul Milton, CEO of Ellis Medicine & Laurence Kelly, CEO of Nathan Littauer Hospital

A message from our brothers and sisters at the New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA):

"Good afternoon,

We are asking our labor friends to sign-on to the below letter of support on behalf of the nurses at Ellis and Nathan Littauer Hospital.

NYSNA has obtained a strike authorization from both hospitals due to the employers’ unwillingness to negotiate a contract that enables nurses to provide quality patient care.

Nathan Littauer Hospital has indicated to the media that there is a negotiating session scheduled this month. Unfortunately that is not true. We are asking you to urge the CEO to get back to the table and negotiate a fair contract that will not impact the quality of patient care. Please add your name to the letter below, and reach out to Janice (janice.treanor@nysna.org) with any questions."

Some details on Nathan Littauer Hospital: NLH is a 74 bed acute care hospital and 84 bed skilled nursing home. NLH’s network of 9 outpatient primary/specialty care centers, education and wellness center and a new out-patient surgery center in Johnstown serve this tri-county area of over 100,000 people. NLH is the second largest employer in Fulton County with over 960 nurses, technicians, office personnel, and support staff.

  • NYSNA RNs: 135
  • Length of Negotiations: November 2013
  • Current Bargaining Status: NLH has significant cuts on the table that will affect quality patient care. We are fighting to obtain a fair contract that allows us to have input and help to improve the care we are providing to our community.

Some details on Ellis Medicine: Ellis is a 438-bed community and teaching healthcare system serving New York’s Capital Region. With four campuses – Ellis Hospital, Ellis Health Center, Bellevue Woman’s Center and Medical Center of Clifton Park – five additional service locations, more than 3,300 employees and more than 700 members of medical staff, Ellis Medicine provides a lifetime of care for patients. Ellis offers an extensive array of inpatient and outpatient services – including cardiac, cancer, emergency, neuroscience and women’s services.

Some details on Bellevue Woman’s Center: BWC provides quality healthcare for women of all ages, with services ranging from maternity and breast care, to surgery and gynecologic care. BWC serves as the Capital Region's first OB/GYN Hospitalist program, a state-of-the-art Breast and Heart Health Center and expanded Labor-Delivery facilities.

  • NYSNA Ellis RNs: 600
  • NYSNA BWC RNs: 133
  • Length of Negotiations: January 2014
  • Current Bargaining Status: NYSNA has been fighting for more input into staffing decisions, pushing for an “open vs agency shop”, affordable health insurance for NYSNA RNs, and fighting off Ellis givebacks that we believe will result in even more insufficient staffing and decreased ability to recruit and retain RNs.

To: Paul Milton, CEO of Ellis Medicine & Laurence Kelly, CEO of Nathan Littauer Hospital
From: [Your Name]

We, the undersigned community, political, faith, and union leaders, are writing this letter to you on behalf of the registered nurses working at Nathan Littauer Hospital, Ellis Medicine and Bellevue Woman’s Center. A series of recent newspaper articles have documented the staffing crisis in various Capital Region hospitals. We believe that the frontline nurses are at Nathan Littauer, Bellevue and Ellis are committed to providing the highest level of patient care, even under the most difficult situations. These nurses are fighting to improve the overall health of our communities and we stand with them in their efforts to ensure that our area hospitals are staffed safely with enough nurses at the bedside.

The time has come to work together to settle a fair contract that benefits our area hospitals, nurses and the patients that they serve. We urge you to work collaboratively with the nurses to ensure that Nathan Littauer, Ellis and Bellevue remain the best places to work and receive care.