POTTSTOWN — After more than nine months of bargaining, the nearly 300 registered nurses at Pottstown Hospital who comprise Pottstown Nurses United overwhelmingly ratified a new 3-year contract with the hospital’s parent company, Tower Health.
The Pottstown Nurses United vote, which concluded at 8:15 p.m. Wednesday, was a decisive 96% in favor of ratification of their new three-year contract, which prioritizes nurse recruitment and retention.
Details of the new contract were not revealed.
“We worked hard for a fair contract that respects the work we do, and allows us to care safely for our patients,” said Pottstown Nurses United President Lori Domin, RN, a longtime Med Surg Nurse. “We believe we accomplished that goal. We stuck together for what we believe in, and I think that made the difference. We see this as a win for us, for our patients, and for our hospital.”
To bring attention to the lack of a contract, members of the Pottstown Nurses United union held an informational picket and rally outside Pottstown Hospital on July 9 to enlist the public in their efforts for a new contract.
“When hospitals struggle to recruit and retain healthcare workers, it’s patients who feel the consequences,” says PASNAP President Maureen May, R.N., a longtime NICU nurse at Temple University Hospital. “When we invest in caregivers, we are directly investing in the quality of care our patients receive.”
Domin agreed: “This contract, so long in the making, prioritizes nurse retention and wages and working conditions to attract new hires to the bedside. It’s a hard-fought win for frontline RNs and for the quality of care our community deserves!”
“It took nine long months to get here,” said Diana Pagnotti, RN, an Orthopedic Nurse and 8-year veteran of Pottstown Hospital, “but for what it means for our patients, for our community, and for each other, it was worth it!”
“Tower, Pottstown Nurses United is here to stay!” said Sue LoBello, RN, a Med Surg Nurse and Executive Board Member of Pottstown Nurses United. “We have emerged from this process stronger, with the clear understanding that when we stand together, great things happen!”
Pottstown Nurses United is an affiliate of PASNAP, the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals, which represents 11,000 frontline nurses and allied professionals across Pennsylvania and was founded 25 years ago on the conviction that patients do better when critical care staff have a voice to advocate for their patients and themselves.
Source: Berkshire mont