Nurses release their letter of no confidence, detailing numerous examples of declining standards under Zewe’s tenure

Registered nurses at Houlton Regional Hospital (HRH) in Houlton, Maine, released their letter of no confidence, following the Board of Trustees’ failure to respond to their concerns about CEO Jeff Zewe. The nurses, who are members of Maine State Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee, had sent a petition of no confidence in Zewe to the board of trustees in July 2026.

Nurses held a two-day strike in Nov. 2025 and a four-day strike in May 2026 to protect their staffing language. Zewe continues to demand that nurses give up this language, which would keep patients safe by a) limiting the number of patients each nurse can be required to take care of and b) requiring a minimum number of nurses remain available for emergency department patients.

“We are greatly saddened that the Houlton Regional Hospital Board of Trustees didn’t keep its word to listen to employees,” according to a statement provided by MSNA’s bargaining committee at HRH, which includes: Tori Quint, RN in the operating room, Mary Howland, RN in the acute care department, Erin Mitchell, RN in the emergency department, Cassidy Hardy, RN in acute care, Brooke Howland, RN in acute care, Christina Schimdt, RN in the operating room, and Kelli Lawlor, RN in the operating room.

The bargaining committee continued, “We presented the Board of Trustees with a letter of no confidence and invited the Board to a meeting to hear from nurses. They didn’t show up. All we’ve heard is silence.”  

The nurses of Houlton Regional Hospital overwhelmingly signed a petition of no confidence in CEO Jeff Zewe for the following reasons:

• Failure to provide continuity of care;
• Failure to retain staff and local expertise;
• Diminishing security capacity;
• Failure to staff appropriately;
• Failure to reach a fair contract;
• Reliance on outside consultants; and
• Creating an unhealthy culture.

The complete letter of no confidence expanding on the above details can be found here.

Jeff Zewe is also CEO of Northern Maine Medical Center, in Fort Kent, Maine, where more than half of the ER nurses have resigned due to the unsafe and unsustainable conditions set by the management.

MSNA/NNOC represents 55 nurses at Houlton Regional Hospital. 

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