Registered nurses at Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston have filed the paperwork to unionize amid demands for better nurse-to-patient ratios and adequate support staff, announcing their intention at a rally last week.
The nurses aim to join the Maine State Nurses Association and National Nurses United.
After the cards declaring the intent to unionize are verified by the National Labor Relations Board, the nurses will confer with hospital management to decide the details of a secret ballot election.
CMMC nurse Katie Grinnell, who has worked at the hospital for eight and a half years, said in a television interview that having a union would mean the nurses “can have a say in what goes into patient care at the bedside,” according to a release from the Maine AFL-CIO.
Grinnell said some of the nurses’ objectives include appropriate lunch breaks and rest periods, and that improving working conditions would help them provide better care.
“We’re the nurses at the bedside, and ultimately, we know what we need in order to give safe, quality care to our patients,” she said. “Safe care saves lives.”
With 250 licensed acute-care beds, Central Maine Medical Center is ranked Maine’s third-largest hospital in the 2026 Mainebiz Book of Lists.
Earlier this year, Central Maine Medical Center was acquired by California-based Prime Healthcare Foundation in a deal that also included Bridgton Hospital, Rumford Hospital, Rumford Community Home, Bolster Heights, the Maine College of Health Professions, Central Maine Health Care’s Cancer Care Center and more than 40 physician practices.
Several other Prime Healthcare hospitals across the country have also filed for union elections, including two in Illinois, according to the Maine AFL-CIO.
