[B]URLINGTON – University of Vermont Medical Center leaders say they have a “comprehensive plan” that will leave most hospital services unaffected if unionized nurses go on a 48-hour strike later this week.
The hospital has made some concessions for a work stoppage: Administrators say they’ve postponed 68 elective surgical procedures that had been scheduled for Thursday and Friday after consulting with surgeons and patients.
But the hospital is bringing in nearly 600 replacement nurses to cover shifts during a strike. That means all emergency, trauma and urgent care services are expected to continue uninterrupted, and administrators said outpatient appointments have been “largely unaffected.”
“Rest assured, we will be ready to serve our patients no matter what occurs this week,” said Eileen Whalen, president and chief operating officer.
The hospital and the Vermont Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals have been negotiating since late March. The union represents about 1,800 licensed practical nurses, registered nurses and nurse practitioners at Vermont’s largest hospital.
Throughout the process, salary and staffing have remained the main obstacles to a new contract.
Nurses say they’re overworked due to a consistently large number of vacancies, and they say the hospital doesn’t pay enough to recruit and retain new staff. Hospital leaders say their vacancy rates are not unique among health care facilities nationwide, and they argue that they’ve offered a “fair and competitive” wage hike.
The union’s contract expired Monday. Nurses in June overwhelmingly authorized a two-day strike if necessary, and the union last week said a strike would begin at 7 a.m. Thursday if no new deal was reached.
The two sides were continuing to talk Tuesday evening.
In the meantime, hospital administrators called a press conference Tuesday to discuss their preparations for a strike. The gathering’s main theme was that no necessary care would be denied.
“I want to assure the community that our emergency room, trauma services and urgent care will be available 24/7 as they always are,” said Chief Medical Officer Isabelle Desjardins.
She added that most outpatient appointments also will be kept. Whalen said any patients whose appointments will be affected by the strike will be notified in advance.
“If you as a member of the community have not heard from your doctor’s office, please keep your appointment for July 12th and 13th, as we’re welcoming you and expecting you,” Whalen said.
There will, however, be fewer surgeries happening if nurses walk off the job. Administrators said 120 procedures were scheduled for Thursday and Friday, and 68 have been postponed.
Examples of postponed procedures include eye surgeries, specialized orthopedic surgeries and ear, nose and throat surgeries.
“In some cases, after careful discussions with the surgeons involved, we decided it would be appropriate to reschedule certain elective procedures because they involved the use of complex teams,” Desjardins said.
Of those procedures that have been delayed, “most will be rescheduled within the next month,” she added.
Otherwise, UVM Medical Center officials are trying to make sure it’s business as usual during a possible strike. That’s no small task for a hospital that has an average daily inpatient census of 342 and hosts 3,000 outpatient visits per day.
The hospital has contracted with Colorado-based Autumn Consulting Services, which specializes in preparing for work stoppages and providing temporary staffing. Autumn Consulting arranged for nearly 600 replacement nurses to descend on Burlington this week, said Laurie Gunn, UVM Medical Center’s vice president for employee, family and patient experience.
“The nurses who are hired by firms like Autumn do this for a living,” Gunn said. “They’re very experienced nursing professionals who are used to coming into unfamiliar surroundings and performing at a very high level.”
UVM began training those nurses on Tuesday. Gunn said training is being offered “by our subject matter experts and covers such things as our electronic health records and policies and practices that are unique to our organization.”
Autumn’s nurses can “basically hit the floor and start going,” Gunn said. She also noted that the hospital regularly uses traveling nurses to cover shifts, so “it’s not unusual to supplement our nurse staffing as we need it.”
The cost of 600 replacement nurses still is not clear. Union leaders have said a strike could cost UVM Medical Center $1.2 million per day in salary alone, but Whalen has not provided specific figures.
“Until we know if there is a strike, or we know what the end of this week looks like, it’s difficult to say the exact amount. But it will be very costly,” Whalen told reporters Tuesday.
She added that, if the two sides can avert a strike before Thursday morning, the hospital’s costs will be less. Though replacement nurses already have traveled to Vermont, “we’ve spent a portion of that money (but) not the complete dollar amount,” Whalen said.
Hospital administrators also say they don’t expect their replacement nurses, other staff and patients to have any problems getting into any facility during a strike. Dawn LeBaron, the medical center’s vice president of hospital services, said “there is no reason to expect any difficulty.”
“We expect picketers to remain on public property. So while they may be within sight and hearing distance, they will not obstruct patient access to our facilities,” LeBaron said. “Picketers have no intention of interfering with patient care or safety.”