Bangor and Portland nurses gathered in Augusta to demand that their employers prioritize patients over profits

Today, registered nurses from Maine Medical Center (MMC) in Portland and Eastern Maine Medical Center (EMMC) in Bangor gathered in Augusta, Maine, to hold a press conference announcing that they are standing together for better conditions for their patients and fair contracts for nurses working in those facilities. The nurses are represented by Maine State Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee (MSNA/NNOC), an affiliate of National Nurses United (NNU), the country’s largest nurses union.

“Northern Light EMMC nurses and our communities are also experiencing access to health care issues,” said Jesse Lambert, RN in the hematology infusion unit. “Northern Light closed our pain clinic last spring and then closed the walk-in clinic in September. In addition, they reduced imaging services appointment availability, creating further unnecessary delays for biopsies and MRIs. EMMC is making changes to our patient care service lines without any regard or consideration to our patient population. Our communities are hurting.”

Both the MMC and EMMC nurse bargaining teams have contract negotiating sessions tomorrow, Oct. 22. They will propose enforceable nurse-to-patient staffing ratios for their upcoming union contracts.

“Decades of research show that reasonable, enforceable nurse-to-patient ratios improve patient outcomes and decrease injuries for both patients and nurses,” said Kelli Brennan, RN at MMC. “In addition to protecting patients, safe staffing ratios decrease workplace violence against nurses. We have proposed enforceable nurse-to-patient ratios in our first contract. And while we have forced some improvements in staffing over the years, the needs of our patients require that we keep fighting until we win real, enforceable nurse-to-patient staffing ratios.”

“When we proposed ratios in our first union contract three years ago, Maine Med said they would not even discuss that proposal,” said Brennan, RN. “Then the administration of MMC and Northern Light, along with the entire Maine Hospital Association, made a full-court press to lobby against our bill that would have made safe staffing ratios the law for every acute care hospital in Maine. Imagine being so opposed to the one strategy that has proven time and again to significantly improve patient outcomes and decrease harm to patients and staff, all just to protect your bottom line.”

“We are united. And we are fighting for something much bigger than just pay raises and better health insurance, as important as those things are,” said Oberson, RN at EMMC. “We know our patients can and should have the best care possible. And when nurses fight, we win.”

The Maine State Nurses Association (MSNA) represents over 4,000 nurses and caregivers from Portland to Fort Kent. MSNA is part of National Nurses Organizing Committee, which is an affiliate of National Nurses Organizing Committee, the largest and fastest-growing union for registered nurses in the United States.