(ALBANY, NEW YORK) – New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA)-represented Albany Med Nurses are wondering how far management is willing to go to hide the staffing crisis and silence Front Line Caregivers who are speaking out about patient care issues.

After refusing to share the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) report with Nurses on the Hospital’s Staffing Committee and refusing to collaborate on remedies to the staffing crisis, Albany Med is now seeking to replace Nurses on the staffing committee through a boss-run election, Union Officials said.

Albany Med wants to replace the same fierce Patient Care Advocates on the Staffing Committee who initially reached out to the NYSDOH, spurring the agency’s investigation into the crisis of understaffing at the hospital.

Registered Nurse (RN) Jessica DeStefano, an Albany Med Clinical Staffing Committee Member, said: “My patients mean the world to me and they deserve the very best care.  Nurses shouldn’t have to fight against our own hospital to make sure that our patients get quality health care - but time and again, Albany Med management has chosen to fight against Front Line Nurses instead of working with us.”  

Recently, Albany Med sent an e-mail to staff announcing that hospital management plans to run an election to replace the current Clinical Staffing Committee Members with an election that will take place between November 4th to November 15th.

The election process, from what little management has shared, will be unilaterally controlled by the boss with zero transparency, NYSNA says.

Further, this sham election violates New York State’s Safe Staffing Law because the law stipulates Front Line Members of the Staffing Committee must be selected by their peers and according to their respective Collective Bargaining Agreements.

Yet, Albany Med is planning an election run solely by management.  

On October 29th, NYSNA filed a complaint to the NYSDOH over Albany Med Administration’s attempt to control the selection of the front-line portion of the Staffing Committee.

RN Jaimie Alexanian, a NYSNA Member and Albany Med Clinical Staffing Committee Member, said: “As Front Line Nurses we believe in transparency.  This sham election is the opposite of transparency.  I feel like we’re being silenced, lied to, tricked and dismissed, and we still haven’t seen the Department of Health report.”

Earlier this month, at the exact same time Nurses were in a Staffing Committee meeting, CEO Dennis McKenna held a press conference where he falsely told the press the staffing Committee was given access to the full Department of Health report.

McKenna also shared misleading numbers in an attempt to try to minimize the shocking and unprecedented 480 staffing violations he admitted the report contained.  

To continue Reading This Labor News Story, Go To: Albany Med Plans Sham Election To Silence Nurses Speaking Out About Staffing Crisis | New York State Nurses Association (nysna.org)