Safe Staffing Victories Stack Up at Montefiore

(Email Update August 23, 2024)

In one month, NYSNA nurses in three Montefiore Medical Center units won safe staffing arbitration awards. At the Weiler/Einstein Hospital, a cardiac telemetry unit and a medical-surgical oncology floor, celebrated two staffing awards. The Moses campus, a family medicine palliative care unit, also celebrated a staffing win. 

“This outcome is a significant step toward ensuring safer working conditions and high-quality patient care,” said Adarsh Mathew, RN. “NYSNA has an unwavering commitment to protecting our rights and advocating for fair staffing practices.” 

Montefiore nurses have put forward eight staffing cases since the 2023 strike and have won every time. Arbitrators have awarded $290,000 in financial awards to the Montefiore nurses who worked understaffed. The bedrock of each of these successful cases are strong protest of assignments and compelling testimony from nurses describing the effects of understaffing. 

The staffing arbitration wins are also shifting management’s behavior. At the Moses palliative care unit, nurses were outraged and spoke out when management began placing patients in their hallway. After the staffing case began, management stopped this inappropriate patient placement.