Nurses union plans to strike at Calais Regional Hospital next week
Courtesy / Calais Regional Hospital
About 40 workers plan to strike next week at Calais Regional Hospital, a 25-bed facility currently seeking bankruptcy protection.
About 40 union employees of Calais Regional Hospital plan to walk off their jobs next week in an ongoing dispute over benefits and the CEO’s management of the financially troubled, 25-bed critical-access care provider.
The Maine State Nurses Association has called the strike for Nov. 18-19, according to a notice submitted to the hospital by Todd Ricker, lead labor representative for the union.
The union employees, which include nurses, medical technologists and other staff among the 200-person workforce, earlier signed a petition calling for termination of CRH Chief Executive Officer Rod Boula.
The petition criticized the hospital’s “seemingly endless bankruptcy,” which began in September 2019 and is pending in a Bangor federal court.
At the time, CRH said it was seeking Chapter 11 protection due to losses from decreased utilization, high levels of free care, inadequate reimbursement and new regulations. In 2018, the hospital had reported debt of $25 million.
In April, the hospital laid off 20 employees as its financial situation worsened during the pandemic, without the prospect of federal relief.
The union petition last week read, “To date, there is no plan that we know of to exit from the bankruptcy. And, it has been months since the staff has received any update on the health of the hospital from the hospital administration.”
The union also said the hospital has managed finances poorly and was planning to increase health care insurance costs. Boula, the petition said, is “the one who has ultimately made the decisions that have put us in this current situation.”
The hospital issued a statement on Saturday, pledging to remain operative during the strike but saying it is “very saddened that union members have chosen to strike at a time when we are in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic bearing down on our community.”
The statement also responded to criticism of health benefits by saying, “We have offered the union the exact same health insurance and paid time off as is provided to every other hospital employee, including administrators.”
Calais Regional Hospital is the largest employer in the Washington County city of 3,100.
The Maine State Nurses Association represents over 2,000 professionals in health care facilities and agencies throughout the state.
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