POUGHKEEPSIE – A rally by nurses and supporters in front of Vassar Brothers Medical Center (VBMC) on Thursday was in response to a plan by the hospital to lay off nurses, according to the New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA), the union representing the nursing staff. The union said that Nuvance, the parent company of VBMC, is laying off 14 nurses at the Poughkeepsie hospital. The cuts are affecting the IV Placement unit and the Ambulatory Surgery unit. The hospital denies the union’s claim.
NYSNA says the cuts come at a time when the hospital is frequently understaffed, putting quality patient care at risk.
Assemblyman Jonathan Jacobson was at the rally and is familiar with the staffing issues at the hospital. Last December, after learning of extended wait times at the hospital, Jacobson cited a national study that showed health safety at Vassar received a “C” rating due to a lack of staffing.
“Vassar’s got to get their act together,” Jacobson said on Thursday. “This makes no sense at all because Vassar Brothers has been complaining that they have a shortage of nurses.” Leading up to this issue, the hospital has attributed the extended wait times for patients in the emergency department to a nursing shortage. Assemblyman Jacobson believes that this round of “cuts” is senseless and will force the hospital to pay more for traveling nurses shortly to compensate for the layoffs.
NYSNA provided updated layoff numbers on Thursday, saying there are currently 10 full-time and three part-time IV nurses and layoffs will drop those numbers to four full-time and two-part-time. Additionally, the Ambulatory Surgery unit is being completely shut down, according to the union.
The hospital disputes the NYSNA claims and said that nurses in the affected units are not being laid off. VBMC Spokesman John Nelson said it’s a restructuring. “We want to emphasize this is not a workforce reduction. Our goal is that all staff affected by these transitions remain working at Vassar Brothers Medical Center. There are positions here for them.”
“Most of the nurses in our units do IVs regularly, and we are now in the final phases of transitioning IV placement responsibilities to the remainder of our nursing units,” the hospital claims, asserting that unit-based nurses who are proficient in IV placement “will lead to higher-quality, more patient-centered care and foster a more cohesive healthcare environment,” while pointing out that the new staffing structure is in place in the rest of the Nuvance hospitals.
Nurses in the Ambulatory Surgery Center are also being laid off, which will impact patients in need of surgery at Vassar. Kerry O’Brien, RN, a nurse of 30 years, said, “We are grossly understaffed already in this hospital, and now they’re laying off nurses,” while stressing that the cuts are not helping patients. “These layoffs are unfair and unnecessary, especially when there’s such a huge need for nurses throughout the hospital.”
