Doctors call on striking Worcester nurses to return to work

Doctors at a Massachusetts hospital where hundreds of nurses worked to hit since early March, have asked them to return to work to help deal with a wave of COVID-19 patients that has resulted in longer wait times at all medical facilities in the region.

Doctors affiliated with St. Vincent Hospital in Worcester sent a letter to the nurses’ union on Wednesday, the day before the 200th day of the strike, The Telegram & Gazette reported.

“With the recent rise in COVID-19 status in our region to Level 3, long wait times at all hospitals in the region and the need to have all beds staffed and open, we all need to be there to our patients, now more than ever, ”wrote Dr Bogdan Nedelescu, president of the medical staff at Saint-Vincent Hospital, which represents all of the more than 600 doctors affiliated with the hospital.

Marie Ritacco, a St. Vincent nurse and union vice president, said the 700 or so striking nurses want to return to work, but doctors should call on St. Vincent CEO Carolyn Jackson.

St. Vincent, owned by Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare, reduced its bed capacity in August in response to the workforce strike, which began March 8. The sticking point now is whether the striking nurses can get their jobs back. The hospital said it did not want to displace the permanent replacements it has hired.

“We need your skills, your compassion, your camaraderie and your renewed commitment to provide the high quality care that we have always provided and that we expect from our patients,” reads the letter from the doctors. “A resolution is so near, and we know you share our common goal of serving the greater good of this community.”

Jackson blamed the Massachusetts Nurses Association union.

“It is not surprising that the MNA prefers to deviate rather than take responsibility for its role in extending this strike,” she said in a statement. “Here are the facts: The MNA basically accepted our last, best, and last offer, but they walked away from our last meeting when we refused to move nurses who were hired for permanent replacement roles.”

The hospital contacted the union several times, to no avail, she said.

The doctors’ plea came just days after the president of UMass Memorial Health – also based in Worcester – called for a resolution to the strike due to a “crisis situation” due to the coronavirus and reduced capacity in beds.