Opening negotiations between Calais Regional Hospital (CRH) and the Maine State Nurses Association (MSNA) began with what the MSNA and 34 local nurses assert are cuts to pay, decreases in discretionary time off and language that undermines the seniority system. CRH contends, in turn, that negotiations are ongoing and that its goals are providing high-quality care and honoring its financial responsibilities.
     A letter signed by 34 local nurses was recently sent to the Calais City Council, the CRH board of directors and the CRH trustees. In the letter, MSNA recognizes the hospital's financial distress, and, based on that distress, the group "offered to forego negotiating a new contract... effectively giving up any hope of a pay raise or implementing changes designed to benefit our patients."
     According to the letter, the hospital refused the union's offer to continue with the previous year's contract and began new negotiations, including the proposed cuts to pay, time off and weakening of the seniority system. The letter further states that the hospital negotiating team repeatedly expressed its interest in hiring new nurses and was prevented from doing so by the contract. "The emphasis was on gaining new employees, not retaining the ones it already has," the letter reads. "However, no one brought up that even if they could attract new employees, the changes they wanted to make offered new employees no incentive to stay."
     The MSNA states that "trained, long‑term employees are leaving their positions here and finding other jobs," which in turn adds to the hospital's cost in the form of recruitment and training for new employees. "It seems to us that if the hospital treated their employees as the valuable assets they are, they would not have to spend so much money attracting new employees."
   The letter concludes with the notice that the MSNA presented a petition to the hospital requesting the withdrawal of the new concessionary demands. The petition asks that CRH instead focus on "issues that will help the hospital in the future, such as safe patient care, retention and recruitment."
     In response to the letter, CRH Vice President of Community Relations Dee Dee Travis addresses several of the points. She says negotiations were reopened with the MSNA because of the philosophy of hospital leadership that "current issues must be addressed in a timely fashion" and "because it is in the best interest of the organization -- now and into the future."
     Regarding the hospital's overall approach to the negotiation, Travis says, "Calais Regional Hospital is currently negotiating in good faith with the Maine State Nurses Union to address issues that need to be tended to, concerns of staff, and the needs of our community, while also being acutely aware of the current realities the hospital and healthcare industry are facing."
     One of the hospital's largest expenses in recent years has been paying for locum or temporary staff as a result of its challenges in recruiting new long‑term employees. Locum costs have surpassed $2 million a year, according to 2017's numbers.
     For the hospital, the balance has always been between providing care and staying financially stable to preserve its operations in the community, which Travis speaks to. "CRH leadership is committed to maintaining high standards of patient care and patient safety and doing what is right for the hospital. It is our responsibility to ensure that area residents have access to quality, safe healthcare and that the hospital is maintained in a manner that is both financially sustainable and operationally strong."
     Regarding the nurses and hospital staff, Travis states, "We appreciate the commitment of our exceptionally dedicated and professional employees and physicians on staff who make a difference in the lives of area residents and families every day."
     Whether that appreciation will translate into sufficient compensation and benefits for the area's senior nurses will be further revealed as negotiations continue at the end of March.