Nurses picket at Bucks County hospital

Nurses at Lower Bucks Hospital staged an informational picket Thursday afternoon to protest what they say is the refusal of the medical center’s owner, Prime Healthcare, to address key contract issues after more than 10 months of bargaining.

Those key issues, according to the union representing the nurses, include retaining experienced bedside nurses.

“Registered nurses at Lower Bucks Hospital deserve a union contract that will attract and retain the most experienced nurses, not one that exclusively favors Prime’s profits at the expense of the standard of living for all Bucks County residents,” said Shirley Crowell, an ICU nurse and co-president of the Nurses Association of Lower Bucks Hospital. “We have always put our patients and our hospital first, and we deserve a contract that recognizes the work we do every day on behalf of our community.”

Rich Leonowitz, director of business development, ay Lower Bucks Hospital, said the medical center is fully staffed and patient care will not be disrupted during the informational picket, which will occur off hospital grounds.

As for the contract negotiations, Leonowitz said, “We have put a fair proposal on the table. It is fair to the nurses and the rest of the hospital. We are confident what is on the table will work for everybody.”

The Nurses Association of Lower Bucks Hospital, which represents 160 nurses at the medical center, is part of the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals, a union of 5,500 nurses and health professionals throughout Pennsylvania. PASNAP also represents the nursing staff at Mercy Suburban Hospital in East Norriton, which Prime Healthcare of Ontario, Calif., is in the process of acquiring.

The informational picket was scheduled to take place between noon and 2 p.m. outside the hospital in Bristol Township, Pa.

Source: Philadelphia Business Journal