Milford Nurses Will Rally After Year Without Contract

MILFORD, MA — Nurses who work at Milford Regional Medical Center will hold a rally this week to draw attention to ongoing contract negotiations with the hospital.

Tuesday's rally will fall on the one-year anniversary of the day the nurses voted to join the Massachusetts Nurses Association union. The union now represents about 550 registered nurses a the hospital.

The decision to unionize came after the nurses said they were left out of key safety decisions made during the start of the coronavirus pandemic. Some of their top issues at the time included access to personal protective equipment, staffing and a triage area in the emergency room to separate coronavirus patients.

“We cannot wait to secure the improvements needed to address challenges facing our patients, nurses and co-workers during these difficult times,” ER nurse and union committee cochair Cheryl Hamel said in a news release. “There are inpatients, even ICU patients, sitting in the emergency room for hours to days. We need to recruit and retain nurses more than ever so that we can return to providing the safest, best patient care that Milford Regional is known for.”

Tuesday's rally will begin around noon at the 14 Prospect St. entrance of the Milford Regional Medical Center.