Nurses in favor of unionizing under the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals said cuts by St. Mary Medical Center's parent organization, Trinity Health, have resulted in higher patient-to-nurse ratios, a lack of supplies and a loss of specialized care programs and teams.

St. Mary Medical Center nurses say cuts over the last few years have affected patient care to the point that they can no longer stay silent and must unionize to make their voices heard.

Nurses, local elected officials and organizers with the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals gathered at the entrance to the hospital along Langhorne-Newtown Road in Middletown on Monday for a rally and press conference to spread the word ahead of an election scheduled for Aug. 22 and 23.

“I love my hospital and I love my coworkers. I am voting for a union because we’ve had troubled times in the last few years. Our concerns have fallen on deaf ears and we are not being addressed by our administration. Forming a union is the only way we can make positive change,” said Donna Halpern, a cardiac critical care nurse.

Halpern and other nurses in favor of the union said cuts by the hospital’s parent organization, Trinity Health, have resulted in higher patient-to-nurse ratios, a lack of supplies and a loss of specialized care programs and teams.

“If it was just pay I don't think we’d be here. It’s the patient safety concerns that brought everybody together,” said Robert Bozek, also a cardiac critical care nurse.

The nurses said they tried three years ago to work with the hospital to resolve some of their concerns, but were not successful. Since they’ve begun the effort to unionize, the nurses said they’ve been targeted and harassed by the hospital administration.

Lynn McCarthy, a labor and delivery nurse, said she’s also been concerned about patient safety, security and privacy because “union busters” hired by the hospital to discourage nurses from voting yes have been given access to areas like the neonatal intensive care unit.

“If my grandbaby was in there I’d be furious that they were potentially exposing my pre-neonate or sick newborn to infections,” she said.

Elected officials including state Sen. Steve Santarsiero, D-10 of Lower Makefield, and state Reps. Tina Davis, D-141 of Bristol Township, and Gene DiGirolamo, R-18, of Bensalem, who sponsored a bill earlier this year to set a minimum ratio of patients to nurses, joined the nurses at the press conference in support of their right to unionize. County and local officials also spoke in favor of the nurses, and signed on to a letter of support sent last month to Trinity.

Santarsiero, in a Facebook post about the letter, called the tone of Trinity’s response “condescending, unprofessional, and frankly offensive.”

He said it “strongly suggests that the nurses’ concerns are indeed legitimate.”

Behind the group of nurses on the sidewalk, several managers and nurses who do not support the effort to unionize said the concerns about patient safety and staffing ratios are unfounded, and they pointed to $2 million in dues that PASNAP would gain.

In a statement, St. Mary President Dr. Lawrence Brilliant said the hospital respects the nurses’ right to choose whether they want to unionize, and wants the matter to be resolved swiftly. The hospital petitioned the National Labor Relations Board two weeks ago for an election to be held.

“Moreover, we take very seriously our commitment to create a fair, just and values-based workplace in which our colleagues can grow and develop, and we value the direct relationship we have with them,” Brilliant said.

As for patient safety, Brilliant said the hospital closely monitors the appropriate ratios “to ensure each person in our care receives the services they need and deserve. Nursing staffing levels have remained steady for the last several years without bedside nursing reductions.

“In fact, we are hiring,” he said.