15,000 Nurses across the state began a 3-day strike Monday morning impacting more than a dozen hospitals. The strike is expected to last until 7 a.m. on Thursday, Sept. 14. Attorney General Keith Ellison attended the strike at Children's Minnesota in Saint Paul and expressed his support for the demands of the nurses.
"You are not alone. I say patients before profits but here's the weird thing, ain't this a non-profit? I mean why are you trying to squeeze all the money out of the nurses for? To do what? You begin to think, aren't your salaries already big enough," said Ellison in front of hundreds of nurses Monday morning.
The Minnesota Nurses Association has accused the hospitals they're striking of operating like for profit corporations, despite all of them being non-profits.
According to the Twin Cities Hospitals Group, the impacted hospitals are coordinating with the Minnesota Department of Health to ensure "continuity of care". In a statement to the press they said. "The Twin Cities Hospitals Group is deeply disappointed the nurses’ union has chosen to strike before exhausting all efforts to reach an agreement. The union rejected all requests for mediation and held fast to wage demands that were unrealistic, unreasonable and unaffordable and, instead, chose to put their agenda before patients. To be clear: the union’s choice to strike is theirs and theirs alone."
Hospitals Impacted
North Memorial Health Care — Robbinsdale
Abbott Northwestern Hospital (Allina) — Minneapolis
Mercy Hospital (Allina) — Coon Rapids
Unity Hospital (Allina) — Fridley
United Hospital (Allina) — St. Paul
Children’s Hospital — Minneapolis
Children’s Hospital — St. Paul
Methodist Hospital (HealthPartners) — St. Louis Park
University of Minnesota Medical Center Riverside (M Health Fairview) — Minneapolis
Southdale Hospital (M Health Fairview) — Edina
St. John’s Hospital (M Health Fairview) — Maplewood
Community Health and Wellness Hub at St. Joseph’s (M Health Fairview) — St. Paul
St. Luke’s Hospital — Duluth
St. Mary’s Hospital (Essentia Health) — Duluth
St. Mary’s Hospital (Essentia Health) — Superior
The Twin Cities Hospitals Group's statement also included their 6 areas of focus as they navigate the labor disruption:
Communicating to patients with emergent health care issues to continue to call 9-1-1 or go to their nearest emergency room.
Communicating to patients with more generalized health care needs to work with their health care provider regarding the scheduling of services and to seek care in a primary care, urgent care or telehealth setting, whenever possible.
Asking for patience. People may experience longer wait times for services while care teams triage patients.
We are mindful that a strike will be disruptive to the services we provide but Minnesota’s more than 120 non-profit hospitals will continue to work together to care for our fellow Minnesotans. While we plan for contingencies like this, we know there will be impacts beyond what we can control.
As is standard during any labor disruption, the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) will be monitoring hospitals and providing guidance as necessary to ensure continuity of care.
Providing regular updates to the public during the course of the three-day strike.
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