The arbiter's order is effective Jan. 1, 2016
YOUNGSTOWN
The Youngstown General Duty Nurses Association, which represents about 280 registered nurses at Northside Medical Center, has won binding arbitration that severely limits mandatory overtime beginning Jan. 1.
The issue has been a major concern of RNs at Northside since the purchase of Forum Health out of bankruptcy by Tennessee-based Community Health Systems Inc., ValleyCare Health System of Ohio’s parent company, on Oct 1, 2010.
Eric Williams, president of the YGDNA, called the ruling by a Cleveland arbiter a “huge award” for the nurses, patients and the community.
The arbitration hearings were conducted June 2 and June 3, 2015.
“We received the arbitrator’s decision late this afternoon, and our initial assessment of the decision is disappointing,” Trish Hrina, vice president of marketing and public relations for ValleyCare, said in an emailed statement Monday night. “We are committed to providing a safe hospital environment for our patients and employees.”
The decision limits mandatory overtime to a total of 33 hours in the aggregate in any given calendar year, according to a statement by the Ohio Nurses Association, of which YGDNA is an affiliate.
The decision does not mandate that additional nurses be hired at Northside, an affiliate of ValleyCare Health System of Ohio, but Williams believes hiring more nurses will be necessary to meet the terms of the arbiter’s binding decision.
According to ONA, the decision means that ValleyCare Northside must “cease and desist” the use of nurse mandatory overtime over 33 hours per calendar year.
“This decision means Northside must finally address its nurse staffing issue by hiring the appropriate number of nurses in order for Youngstown’s residents to receive the care they deserve,” an ONA official said.
Northside’s use of mandatory overtime meant nurses were made to stay long past their original shift, creating a potentially unsafe working and patient care environment.
Mandatory overtime contributes heavily to nurse fatigue and practice errors that in turn can jeopardize patient care, Williams said.
Northside nurses were required to work nearly 1,500 hours of mandatory overtime during the first six months of this year, the ONA said.
“This is a monumental win not only for the nurses of Northside, but for the community that it serves. No longer will nurses be burdened with exhaustion and the accompanying worry of making a mistake,” Williams said.
Also, the arbiter has the authority to enforce his decision for two years, which Williams said was unusual and another victory for the nurses.
“And soon, members of the community will no longer have to worry if they will receive the proper care and attention they deserve because of Northside running a skeleton crew of nurses who are worked around the clock. Nurses were often forced to extend their normal 12-hour shift to 16 hours,” he said.
Williams estimated that hiring 30 additional nurses might enable Northside to meet the mandatory overtime requirements.
Although the YGDNA has no members on layoff, primarily because they have retired or found other jobs, he said anyone who was laid off would have call-back rights if Northside does hire nurses.
The YGDNA ratified a three-year contract with CHS on Sept. 11, but the mandatory overtime issue was not addressed, Williams said.