Borgess Nurses Oppose New Staffing Grids

Contact: Andrew Baker, 517-488-1707

Hospital Plan to Slash RN Staffing Places Patients in Danger

(Kalamazoo, MI) The following statement should be attributed to Jamie Brown, RN and President of the Borgess Staff Nurses Council/Michigan Nurses Association regarding rumored Borgess layoffs. The hospital will neither confirm or deny job losses:

“Registered nurses at Borgess Medical Center met with management today and are alarmed by their plan to drastically cut RN staffing levels. Even if management agrees to make their changes without layoffs, they would have a long way to go to make this plan safe for our patients.

“Nurses know what is best for the people in our care, and the hospital has a legal obligation to negotiate with our union over these proposals. Yet, instead of seeking staffing input from the expert caregivers at the patient’s bedside, Borgess is trusting recommendations from a third-party company on how to increase their ‘efficiency.’

“The administration’s misplaced priorities endanger the lives of patients in our community. We will continue to talk to our fellow nurses and evaluate how this plan will affect patients before commenting further. If Kalamazoo residents are concerned, they should urge Borgess Chief Executive Officer Kathy Young to drop the arbitrary March 4th implementation deadline to fully consider the impact of cuts.”

The Borgess Staff Nurses Council represents about 650 nurses at Borgess hospital, and is affiliated with the Michigan Nurses Association, the largest labor and professional organization for nurses in the state.

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