POTTSTOWN — Eight months into contract negotiations with Tower Health, members of the Pottstown Nurses United union, representing nearly 300 nurses, held an informational picket and rally outside Pottstown Hospital to enlist the public in their efforts for a new contract.
“Remember when we were the heroes during COVID?” Peggy Malone asked into the microphone. “Tower Health seems to have forgotten. We carried them on our backs during COVID.”
Malone is an RN, former president of the Crozier-Chester Nurses Association, and on the executive board of the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals, or PSNAP, with which Pottstown Nurses United is affiliated
“Every human being deserves quality care, and every study shows nursing is crucial to quality care,” said Malone.
But that care is being compromised by Tower Health’s refusal to commit to a nurse-to-patient ratio that ensures the best care for patients, said Crystal Somerset-Bruce, an intensive care unit nurse at Pottstown Hospital and the vice president of Pottstown Nurses United.
Employed at Pottstown Hospital since 2010, Somerset-Bruce said the ideal ratio in her unit is one nurse for two patients. But if a critical case comes in that requires one nurse’s full attention, other nurses can end up tending to three or four patients, which, she said, is unsafe. In fact, it’s so unsafe that there is currently a bill in the state Senate setting required nurse-to-patient ratios for different situations.
“That bill needs to get passed, and I would like to see Tower Health adopt those ratios now as part of our contract. I know they can’t always see the future and don’t always know when a critical case will show up, but they need to have adequate staff so those adjustments can be made,” she said.
“We’re not asking for the moon. We’re asking for basic commitments to patient safety, and they have refused,” said Lori Domin, RN, president of Pottstown Nurses United. “If they care about patient care, and if they prioritize the community’s health, then they must take care of those of us doing the caring.”
The nurses also accused Tower Health of spending as much as $400,000 on union-busting efforts.
“Tower Health bought us in 2017, knowing full well that we have a union, and in the eight years since, they have spent untold amounts of time and thousands and thousands of dollars trying to bust our Union — effort and money that could have been spent on recruiting and retaining staff and for safe patient care,” said Domin, “Our patients are our priority. What’s Tower’s?”
“Tower was willing to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on union busters at St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children in 2023 and Pottstown Hospital in 2024. And Tower is richly rewarding its top executives and tying their compensation to profits across the system, while simultaneously pulling its tax payments from Pottstown Borough and Pottstown School District. What Tower is apparently unwilling to do is provide fair pay to nurses at Pottstown. At the end of the day, Tower is more committed to corporate profits than to its patients, the community, or its employees,” according to the nurse’s statement.
Then there’s the pay issue.
“In 2024, Tower Health negotiated contracts for the RNs at St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children and the service workers at Pottstown Hospital. Both agreed to wage increases over the life of the contracts of 3 percent in year one, 3.25 percent in year two, and 3.5 percent in year three. Tower gave everyone else in the system an average increase of 3.25 percent in May of this year. Yet inexplicably, Tower is offering the nurses at Pottstown a paltry — and insulting — 1 percent increase,” according to a press release issued before the picket.
Also, before the picket, Tower Health issued the following statement through Brian Communications, a public relations firm: “We have been negotiating in good faith with PASNAP since November and remain committed to constructive dialogue to reach a fair contract. We want to assure our patients and the public that all hospital operations will continue without disruption as we stay focused on providing high-quality care to the community.”
In addition to the Pottstown nurses themselves, their spouses, children, fellow nurses from other hospitals and even a hairless cat named Stella walked the picket line to show their support. They were joined by area politicians.
Pottstown Mayor Stephanie Henrick was at the picket to support the nurses.
“You provide essential care to our borough and our community and the time has come to reward that care for the men and women I see here today; to give you the fair and equal treatment you so richly deserve,” Henrick said.
Other Democratic politicians have voiced their support for the nurses as well. State Sen. Katie Muth, D-44th Dist., arrived just as the rally ended, and state Sen. Judy Schwank, D-11th Dist., sent along a statement of support.
Also on display Wednesday was a letter of support signed by both of those politicians, as well as state Rep. Joe Ciresi, D-146th Dist., state Rep. Paul Friel, D-26th Dist., plus Montgomery County Commissioners Neil Makhija and Jamila Winder — all Democrats.
“We urge Tower Health to return to the bargaining table in good faith and deliver a contract that reflects the essential contributions of these nurses, respects their professional expertise, and supports safe staffing practices that benefit both workers and patients,” the letter reads, in part. “Pennsylvania patients deserve safe, quality care. And Pottstown nurses deserve a fair contract. We stand with Pottstown Nurses United.”
Source: Berkshire mont
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