Nurses at two New York City hospitals entered their second day of striking Tuesday after negotiations between hospital leadership and the nurses union failed once again overnight.
Though tentative deals had been reached in recent days covering nurses at several area hospitals, roughly 7,100 nurses with the New York State Nurses Association remain on strike at The Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan and Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx.
On Monday night, union president Judy Sheridan-Gonzalez said the nurses union was negotiating again with Montefiore. Sources told NY1 that negotiations had yet to resume with Mount Sinai Hospital. Negotiations with Montefiore resumed at 2 p.m., she told NY1 around 6 p.m.
Around 10 p.m. Monday night, Sheridan-Gonzalez said talks would resume again Tuesday at 10 a.m. In a statement provided to NY1 Tuesday morning, Montefiore said it "remains at the bargaining table, committed to an equitable agreement that reflects the priorities of our dedicated nurses."
"Contingency plans remain in place to ensure our hospitals remain open, because Montefiore is, and always will be, here for the Bronx," Montefiore added.
Prior to the strike, agreements had been reached at Mount Sinai West, Mount Sinai Morningside, NewYork-Presbyterian, Maimonides Medical Center, Richmond University Medical Center and Flushing Hospital Medical Center, according to NYSNA.
On Tuesday, the union voted to ratify contracts with Mount Sinai West and Mount Sinai Morningside, following successful ratification votes on contracts with Maimonides Medical Center and NewYork-Presybeterian over the weekend.
"We're back at the table," said Sheridan-Gonzalez, an emergency room nurse at Montefiore, Monday evening as negotiations continued. "And we're hoping that we can fashion a package today."
"They did not take us seriously until we got out here," she added, prompting cheers from striking workers outside Montefiore Medical Center in the Norwood neighborhood of the Bronx.
Sheridan-Gonzalez told workers on the picket line Monday night she would let them know by 10 p.m. if the strike would extend into Tuesday.
"Management really tried to pressure us to call off the strike. They started throwing a lot of things at us, a lot of things that we wanted. Not everything, but a lot," the union president told the workers. "They expected us to get exhausted and go all night and make an agreement. And we said to them, we can't call off the strike if we don't have something to give to the nurses. And they said, 'Well, all bets are off.'"
"We said, 'Well, we already know that Montefiore is one of the most terribly organized places that we've ever worked in, they probably don't even know how to bust a union properly,'" Sheridan-Gonzalez said.
Earlier on Monday, a source provided to NY1 a letter from Montefiore president and CEO Dr. Philip Ozuah to staff, in which he wrote of his "deep disappointment" with the union's decision to strike and said the hospital extended "an offer that exceeded the terms already agreed to at the wealthiest of our peer institutions."
"I have directed our negotiating team to continue to engage with NYSNA and work towards a fair agreement. But it must be a fair agreement," Ozuah wrote.
In a statement early Monday, NYSNA urged New Yorkers not to avoid seeking care as the strike continues.
"To all of our patients, to all New Yorkers, we want to be absolutely clear: If you are sick, please do not delay getting medical care, regardless of whether we are on strike. Patients should seek hospital care immediately if they need it," the statement said.
"We would rather be the ones providing that care, but our bosses have pushed us to be out here instead. We appreciate solidarity from our patients - but going into the hospital to get the care you need is NOT crossing our strike line. In fact, we invite you to come join us on the strike line after you've gotten the care you need. We are out here so we can provide better patient care to you!"
Weekend negotiations fall short
Both hospitals released statements ahead of the 6 a.m. deadline saying that negotiations had failed overnight.
"NYSNA leadership walked out of negotiations shortly after 1:00AM ET, refusing to accept the exact same 19.1 percent increased wage offer agreed to by eight other hospitals, including two other Mount Sinai Health System campuses, and disregarding the Governor's solution to avoid a strike," a Mount Sinai spokesperson said in a statement.
Montefiore's negotiations failed just hours later.
"Despite Montefiore's offer of a 19.1% compounded wage increase — the same offer agreed to at the wealthiest of our peer institutions — and a commitment to create over 170 new nursing positions, and despite a call from Governor Hochul for arbitration, NYSNA's leadership has decided to walk away from the bedsides of their patients," the medical center said in a statement.
Mount Sinai Hospital chief nursing officer Francis Cartwright told “Mornings On 1” Monday that the nurses on strike are demanding more robust staffing.
“They walked out without responding to us about a very robust staffing enforcement proposal that we had submitted to them,” she said. “And we're very disappointed that the NYSNA executive team is, at this point, asking nurses to make this decision to either stay and take care of patients, or to leave and join the strike line.”
Cartwright added that nurses are distressed about leaving patients, but that care will still be provided.
“We still intend to keep our promise to patients we're going to keep you safe and give you the best quality care and unfortunately, for some that might be going to another organization,” she said.
“But we are reassuring our patients that they are going to continue to get the right care, and we are also reassuring them that we will — at some point — reach a resolution here so that our nurses, who are the best on the planet, will be here on site taking care of our patients.”
Officials, affected hospitals implement contingency plans
Montefiore on Monday announced its contingency plans amid the strike, saying all elective surgeries and appointments at their ambulatory locations would be rescheduled. Patients with scheduled procedures or appointments will be contacted by the hospital network with information regarding rescheduling.
Mount Sinai had released its contingency plan last week, noting that it would begin diverting a majority of ambulances from their facilities, cancel some elective surgeries and transfer patients — including babies in the neonatal intensive care unit — to other hospital systems amid a potential strike.
In a statement released Tuesday, Mount Sinai said agency nurses were working with non-union nurses to care for the hospital's patients.
"Our focus is on caring for our patients with a high-level of care," Mount Sinai said. "We continue to transfer patients within our System from the affected hospital."
Additionally, Mayor Eric Adams said Sunday that he and his staff would continue to monitor the situation, but that the city is prepared to meet any challenges that may arise.
He said in preparation for a strike, the FDNY already had plans in place to reroute ambulances, while NYC Health + Hospitals has prepared for a potential surge in patients.
The union originally announced the potential strike for nurses at several of the city’s largest private hospitals in December.
According to data from the state’s Department of Health, Montefiore has the largest hospital bed capacity out of the two hospitals with staff on strike, with roughly 1,560 beds in the Bronx as of Jan. 5.
NYSNA represents over 42,000 members across the state, according to the union.
In a statement Monday afternoon, the state health department said they have sent officials to the affected hospitals to monitor the situation and "ensure adequate health care resources are maintained" as well as "enforce required minimum staffing levels." The hospitals can comply with staffing level requirements by bringing in outside staff, rescheduling or canceling elective procedures, and transferring patients to other hospitals, according to the statement.
The state also said New Yorkers who need to file a complaint about services at the affected hospitals, or any hospital in the state, can call 1-800-804-5447 or file a complaint form online.