St. Charles Hospital nurses set strike date in July
St. Charles Hospital in Port Jefferson, where nurses set a July 13 strike deadline. Credit: Thomas Hengge
Nurses at St. Charles Hospital Tuesday notified hospital officials they would go on strike on July 13 if there is no agreement on a new contract.
The notification came after New York State Nurses Association members at the Port Jefferson hospital voted June 12 with a 99.7% majority to authorize a strike.
Tracy Kosciuk, a postpartum registered nurse and secretary of the union’s hospital executive committee at the hospital, said the main sticking point continues to be what the union says are unsafe nurse-to-patient staffing levels.
"They are completely ignoring our concerns," with understaffing continuing during contract negotiations, she said.
Nurses also are pushing for higher wages. Neither the union nor Catholic Health, which runs St. Charles and five other Long Island hospitals, released details of current or proposed salaries.
Catholic Health denied the allegations of unsafe staffing. If a strike occurs, St. Charles will remain open, Catholic Health spokeswoman Lisa Greiner said in a statement.
"We have a comprehensive contingency plan in place to maintain safe, high-quality care and minimize disruption," she said.
Greiner said St. Charles’ A rating with the nonprofit hospital-safety group Leapfrog illustrates that the hospital has "a thoughtful, ongoing staffing review process focused on supporting patient safety and quality care."
State law mandates one nurse for every two critical or intensive care patients, and a 2023 union contract that expired on March 31 requires one nurse for six patients in other units.
Kosciuk said the hospital routinely violates those standards and has resisted during contract negotiations to agree to new language that would impose financial penalties for not adhering to the requirements, and to a faster process to address violations.
"If they're following the contract, then there should be no worries about getting penalties," she said.
Contract negotiations resume on Wednesday, she said. The new contract would run through March 31, 2029.
David Olson covers health care. He has worked at Newsday since 2015 and previously covered immigration, multicultural issues and religion at The Press-Enterprise in Southern California.
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