Saint Vincent Hospital Explained

Saint Vincent Hospital
Org/Group:Tenet Healthcare
Location:123 Summer Street
Region:
Worcester
State:MA
Country:US
Founded:1893
Website:www.stvincenthospital.com

Saint Vincent Hospital is a 381-bed[1] hospital located in Worcester, Massachusetts. Founded by the Catholic Sisters of Providence of Holyoke in 1893, Saint Vincent's was named after the patron saint of the Sisters' order, Saint Vincent de Paul. In 1990, the hospital merged with the Fallon Healthcare System. Vanguard Health Systems purchased the hospital in 2005. In 2021, nurses went on strike at the hospital, which by this time was owned by Tenet Healthcare.

2021 Nurse strike

See main article: 2021 Saint Vincent Hospital strike. In around 2019, the management of the hospital and the union representatives from the Massachusetts Nurses Association, initiated a negotiation regarding pay and staffing levels at the hospital.[2] According to the management of the hospital, a labor contract proposal between the two involved parties included a "substantial" pay increase for the nurses. As of June 2021, the two groups had still not come to an agreement regarding staffing levels.[3] [4] The management of the hospital claims that the demands from the Union's end are "unreasonable" and claimed that the hospital has "one of the most generous staffing ratios in the state". However, the union representatives rejected such a claim, arguing that nurses routinely have to attend to five patients at a time and that the staffing levels at the nearby UMass Memorial Medical Center are lower than those at Saint Vincent.[5] During the course of the strike while being in the negotiation with the union representatives, the management of Saint Vincent started to replace the striking nurses from May 2021.[6] As of October 2021, all parties have reached an agreement, with the exception of Tenet Healthcare's refusal to lay off the replacement nurses.

Notes and References

  1. [U.S. News & World Report]
  2. Web site: Moulton. Cyrus. What you need to know about the St. Vincent strike. 2021-06-28. Telegram & Gazette. en-US.
  3. Web site: 2021-06-27. Massachusetts nurses strike: St. Vincent Hospital makes new offer, Worcester nurses call it ‘not a serious proposal’. 2021-06-28. Boston Herald. en-US.
  4. Web site: Moulton. Cyrus. What you need to know about the St. Vincent strike. 2021-06-28. Telegram & Gazette. en-US.
  5. Web site: Duckett. Richard. St. Vincent Hospital nurses strike officially second longest in state history. 2021-06-28. Telegram & Gazette. en-US.
  6. Web site: Tenet Healthcare begins replacing striking nurses at Saint Vincent Hospital in Massachusetts. 2021-06-28. World Socialist Web Site. en.