St. Vincent Nurses to Resume Talks with Dallas-Based Tenet Healthcare Monday and Tuesday, Aug. 2 & 3 -- As the Strike Will Reach 148 Days

WORECESTER, Mass., Aug. 1, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- A federal has mediator scheduled the next round of talks between the striking nurses of St. Vincent Hospital and the management of Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare, in the hopes that the parties can reach an agreement that finally includes the staffing and patient care improvements the nurses need to protect their patients and to end the strike – which on Monday will be 148 days, the longest nurses strike nationally in over a decade. 

The St. Vincent Hospital nurses met with Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare for negotiations over two days on July 22 and 23, with talks ending at 7:30 p.m. on July 23.

"As nurses continue to be resolved and united in our effort to ensure safer patient care, we look forward to this opportunity to meet in person with the hospital to continue a good faith dialogue that we hope will lead to a settlement to end our strike," said Marlena Pellegrino, RN, a longtime nurse at the facility and co-chair of the nurses local bargaining unit with the Massachusetts Nurses Association.  "Getting back to our patients' bedside with enforceable contract language on staffing that provides all of our patients with the care and dignity they deserve is our goal this week, and we hope that Tenet shares that goal." 

Face-to face talks are scheduled inside the hospital, with the nurses' negotiating team caucusing at the nearby Hilton Garden Inn across the street from the hospital.  This will not impact the strike, with nurses continuing to picket while talks take place and every day going forward until an agreement is reached.  The negotiating committee will be available to meet with the media prior to and after negotiations are completed. 

As the strike enters its 22nd week, Tenet has reported profits of more than $120 million for the second quarter of 2021, after posting a profit of $97 million during the first quarter for a total profit for the year of more than $217 million. Since the strike began, Tenet has spent more than $95 million to prolong the nurses strike at St. Vincent Hospital, a fraction of which would have funded the staffing improvements the nurses are seeking.

For more background on the strike and the issues involved, click here to learn more.   

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Founded in 1903, the Massachusetts Nurses Association is the largest union of registered nurses in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Its 23,000 members advance the nursing profession by fostering high standards of nursing practice, promoting the economic and general welfare of nurses in the workplace, projecting a positive and realistic view of nursing, and by lobbying the Legislature and regulatory agencies on health care issues affecting nurses and the public.

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SOURCE Massachusetts Nurses Association