Mission nurses say patient care prompted union vote

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    ASHEVILLE, N.C. (WLOS) — Mission Health is refuting allegations made by nurses that the HCA-owned hospital has increased nurse caseload assignments compared to before the hospital went to corporate ownership.

“Our nurse to patient ratios have not changed,” said Nancy Lindell, spokeswoman for Mission HCA.

Nurses, who voted 965-411 to unionize, have said certified nursing assistants are also greatly needed for patient caseload.

Don Warren, who has been a registered nurse at Mission for 13 years and has worked as a registered nurse for more than 20 years, said there was elation that nurses may now have a way to press Mission’s corporate owner to focus on properly staffing the hospital.

“Our concern is patient care,” Warren said. “We need resources. We can have anywhere from six to seven patients assigned to us. We also may not have enough CNAs on the floor.”

Warren said in recent days he’s had to take responsibility for feeding patients who could not feed themselves, using 30 minutes for each patient, when he had other responsibilities on his acute patient care floor.

Warren said there are CNA shortages, as well as housekeeper shortages, that can impact how well a hospital can operate for patients who are waiting for rooms.

While unionizing often focuses on pay disputes and benefits, Warren said a survey taken by Mission nurses showed those issues weren’t the biggest concern.

“It had to do with patient-staff ratio. It didn’t have to do with increased pay,” Warren said.

“It’s really necessary that the hospital respect the results of the election,” said Bradley Van Waus, spokesman for National Nurses United, the union the Mission nurses will join.

The vote was conducted by the National Labor Relations Board, a federal entity charged with enforcing labor laws.

“As divisive as this election has been over the last few months, we respect the right of nurses to decide for themselves whether or not they supported NNU,” Lindell said. “The National Labor Relations Board process allows both parties time to review the election. The hospital may utilize that process to ensure that all of our nurses had the fair election that they deserve.”

Lindell said HCA has made tremendous investments in Mission in the short time it has owned the hospital.

“In our first year of partnership (2/1/19–1/31/20), HCA Healthcare invested $200 million in capital to bring leading -edge technology to Western North Carolina. Investments in staff have also been made by welcoming more than 460 new Mission team members since March, including more than 100 new graduating registered nurses. Since this time last year, our registered nurse team has grown by almost 200 full-time and part-time nurses across 37 different nursing units, an increase of more than 73%. We value our nurses and the exceptional care they provide,” Lindell said.

The next step for NNU at Mission is to elect a nurse representative board that will eventually go before HCA administrators to negotiate on behalf of the newl-formed union.

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