Nurses plan candlelight vigil
Photo courtesy of Justin Guerrette
RALLY FOR LIFE — Supporters stood along Main Street in Presque Isle Sunday in support of the eighth annual “Live Up For Life” event, sponsored by the Pregnancy Care Center of Aroostook. Rosalie Levasseur, a volunteer at the non-profit agency, was one of several area residents who braved the elements in support of the nationwide event to celebrate “Sanctity of Human Life Sunday” originally proclaimed by President Ronald Reagan on Jan. 22, 1984.
By Scott Mitchell Johnson
PRESQUE ISLE — Nurses represented by the Maine State Nurses Association/National Nurses United will hold a candlelight vigil at The Aroostook Medical Center this evening to protest what the group calls the hospital’s “continued reluctance to commit to safe staffing in the facility.”
A federal mediator was present at negotiations last week but an agreement was not reached. Although there was significant movement regarding staffing language, the nurses say there is no commitment on the hospital’s part for a plan to recruit and retain the nurses to fulfill the safe staffing plans.
“The public health of our community depends on a well-staffed hospital,” said Lori McPherson, TAMC RN. “TAMC’s refusal to commit to that is very discouraging especially when the chief executive officer and other top managers are making so much money, yet there seems to be no resources for safe staffing.”
A press release sent out yesterday from the MSNA/NNU, states that according to the most recent public disclosure data published in Mainebiz in 2011, the hospital’s CEO makes over $700,000 per year.
MSNA/NNU maintains that the hospital refuses to invest in a serious plan to recruit and retain staff and instead insists that they have the right to subcontract out RN jobs at any time and use outside and out-of-state agencies to staff the hospital.
“This hospital is meant to care for the community with local staff,” said Cokie Giles, RN and president of MSNA. “If the hospital has the right to replace local registered nurses, that situation not only becomes unsafe to patients but undermines this hospital commitment to the community and the local economy.”
Jason Parent, TAMC’s director of advancement, said everyone at the hospital is committed to ensuring patient safety.
“We were very pleased six weeks ago when we learned the TAMC team was honored by The Leapfrog Group with a top ‘A’ Hospital Safety Score, indicating that we rank nationally among the top hospitals when it comes to patient safety,” he said. “This was one of many accolades our organization has received in recent months recognizing the outstanding work of all our employees.
“We are all focused on the same objectives when it comes to the safety of our patients. Our collective goal is to maintain safe staffing levels, which we are confident we have at the present. It is a priority for all concerned, in all that we do, and certainly in the current negotiation with our nurses’ union,” said Parent. “We have made significant progress in these negotiation efforts, and we expect to have a contract signed soon.”
Parent said TAMC takes great pride in employing local residents.
“We work very closely with local higher education institutions to hire nurses who earn their degrees from Maine and — specifically — Aroostook County schools,” he said.
TAMC employs a total of 150 staff nurses. Of that, 77 percent (115) hold degrees from higher education institutions within the state. Ninety-one percent (104 of those 115 nurses) hold degrees from Northern Maine Community College (72) and the University of Maine at Fort Kent (32).
“In addition, we have been working collaboratively with several other county organizations for over the past decade at cultivating future health care professionals in our own backyard through programs like the Survivor Aroostook Healthcare Career Exploration Camp and Healthcare Explorers program, which introduces area high school students to various career opportunities,” said Parent.
The candlelight vigil for patient safety will be held at 5 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 23 at the hospital’s Academy Street entrance.
