Andy Close
WARREN, Pa. – The Warren General Hospital Professional Employees Association “overwhelmingly ratified” a new contract with WGH Wednesday, ending months of negotiations and avoiding a potential strike, according to a release issued Wednesday.
The sides reached an agreement on a tentative contract Monday, and that contract was put to a vote on Wednesday.
“The contract we negotiated is a step in the right direction for our patients’ well-being,” Maternity Unit Nurse Charlene Fohrd, R.N., an 8-year Warren General Hospital veteran and WGHPEA co-president said. “We were able to build a framework for safer staffing and a better plan for staff recruitment and retention. Our first concern is always our patients and we’re grateful to the community for supporting us in this effort.”
Warren General representatives had not returned requests for comment as of 8:15 p.m. Wednesday.
According to the release, “the new contract strengthens staffing at Warren General by requiring the hospital to take measures to address short staffing on a unit due increased patient acuity and increased census, among other reasons.”
These measures include:
Assigning a float nurse, if available
Pulling available qualified staff from other units
Seeking volunteers among nurses who have expressed an interest in picking up shifts
Calling casual nurses to work (a casual nurse is a nurse who is not regularly scheduled to work and who is employed under an arrangement whereby the person may elect to work or not when requested to do so)
Having supervisors work and assist
Adding ancillary resources
In addition to staffing guidelines, the new contract includes measures to strengthen nurse retention and help to attract additional staff to the hospital, both of which are designed to improve staffing and, consequently, the quality of patient care:
Enhanced retirement: Those in the pension plan will be able to keep an additional contribution from the hospital until Sept. 30, 2024. And the hospital will match 75 percent of up to 9.5 percent of employee contributions to the 401K; currently, employees are receiving 75 percent of 6 percent of salary in their 401K.
Increased wages: Nurses will see an average pay increase of 4.5 percent in years 1 and 3 percent in years 2 and 3 of the contract, with some staff seeing over 17 percent increases in salary over 3 years.
“A year and a half into the pandemic, the system that’s supposed to support bedside caregivers, and therefore patients, is in crisis,” says Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses & Allied Professionals President Maureen May, R.N. “Our workloads have shot through the roof while staff numbers have dwindled due to burnout and short-sighted, bottom-line decisions. This contract, with its emphasis on safe staffing, prioritizes excellence in patient care as well as the health and well-being of frontline caregivers. We are thrilled.”
