Nurses at Houlton Regional Hospital demand safe staffing, especially in the emergency department, and improvements to nurse retention

Registered nurses at Houlton Regional Hospital (HRH) in Houlton, Maine, are moving forward with their two-day strike on Nov. 18 and 19 to protest management’s refusal to improve staffing and patient safety, particularly retention of staff nurses. Nurses at HRH are represented by Maine State Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee (MSNA/NNOC).

“Short staffing remains a critical challenge within our hospital,” said Brooke Howland, RN in the Acute Care Unit. “The emergency department, operating room, and acute care units are the foundation of patient care in our community. Each of these departments must be adequately staffed to ensure the delivery of safe, high-quality care. Too often, additional patients are assigned to the acute care unit without the necessary increase in staffing. As patient conditions grow more complex, the need for skilled nursing support increases — without it, both patient safety and quality of care are compromised.”

“The emergency department is asking for one additional shift per week so that three RNs are present at all times to deal with our patients’ needs,” said Tenille Nason, RN in the emergency department. “The hospital had agreed tentatively to add this position prior to Jeff Zewe taking over as CEO. But the hospital has reneged on that agreement and now wants to be able to reduce ED staffing.”

Who: Registered nurses at Houlton Regional Hospital
What: Two-day strike for patient safety and a fair contract
When: Tuesday, Nov. 18, 6:45 a.m. to Thursday, Nov. 20, 6:44 a.m.
            RNs picketing: 6:45-9:15 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. each day
Where: Houlton Regional Hospital, 20 Hartford St., Houlton

Despite noting that HRH nurses are among the lowest paid in the county, HRH’s CEO has refused to address the impact on retention and patient care. Studies show that when RNs are forced to care for too many patients at one time, patients are at higher risk of preventable medical errors, avoidable complications, falls and injuries, pressure sores, increased length of hospital stay, higher numbers of hospital readmissions, and death.

Due to the abrupt closure of the community’s labor, delivery, recovery, and postpartum department in May, some babies are being delivered in the emergency department. The patients must be stabilized before being transported to a hospital equipped to care for them.

“We need safe staffing. The reason we do not have a contract is that the hospital has proposed ‘operational flexibility’ at the bargaining table,” said Erin Mitchell, RN in the emergency department. “The truth is that the hospital can increase staffing at any time to meet patient needs, but the only flexibility the hospital wants is the ability to reduce staffing. This is why we are striking.”

The nurses gave the hospital notice of their strike on Nov. 7. In September, they voted overwhelming to authorize the bargaining team to call a strike. HRH nurses have been negotiating for over a year for a new contract. The previous contract expired on Nov. 30, 2024.

MSNA/NNOC represents 55 nurses at Houlton Regional Hospital.

Maine State Nurses Association is part of the National Nurses Organizing Committee, representing 4,000 nurses and other caregivers from Portland to Fort Kent. NNOC is an affiliate of the National Nurses United, the largest and fastest-growing labor union of registered nurses in the United States with nearly 225,000 members nationwide.