Nurses At Lower Bucks Hospital Ratify 3-Year Contract

LOWER BUCKS COUNTY, PA —After 15 months of negotiations, a strike, and pickets, nurses at Lower Bucks Hospital have ratified a new three-year contract, its association said.

The vote for the new contract was 83 percent in favor of ratification.

At the core of the nurses’ negotiations with out-of-state owner Prime Healthcare were safe staffing and recruitment and retention of experienced caregivers —what nurses say is the critical quality of care issues that directly impacted the care of the residents of Bristol Borough and Bristol Township.

“Our focus was to fight for staffing levels that would allow us to provide safe, quality care to the patients of this community,” said Lower Bucks Hospital ICU Nurse Anna Carlin, co-president of the Nurses Association of Lower Bucks Hospital. “During negotiations, our thoughts were always with our patients.”

Longtime Lower Bucks Hospital ICU Nurse and association co-president Shirley Crowell said: “Nurses from every department, full-time, part-time, and per diem, stood together for the longest negotiations we have ever had and would not back down. Our commitment to getting a deal that protects our staff and our patients was unparalleled.”

"We are pleased to announce that Lower Bucks Hospital has successfully reached a three-year agreement with the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals (PASNAP)," said Michelle Aliprantis, regional director of marketing and communications, PA Region, for Roxborough, Suburban, and Lower Bucks hospitals.

"This significant milestone reflects our long-standing tradition of delivering quality medical and nursing care to the patients of our community," she said. "We wish to extend our sincere gratitude to the bargaining teams from both sides for their collaborative efforts in achieving these fair and equitable agreements. Their dedication and commitment have been instrumental in this process. We look forward to continued collaboration with PASNAP and all hospital staff, with a shared focus on what matters most: providing outstanding care to our patients and community."

The new contract for nurses at the hospital includes:

• Meaningful commitments to staffing —A key quality of care indicator. The union fought to hold off serious staffing cuts, retain seasoned staff, and create new RN positions to assist with staffing. The new contract also provides protections against layoffs.
• Additional benefits for the recruitment and retention of nurses —Nurses will receive increased differentials, on-call pay, and holiday hours as well as protections for experience wage increases and other key benefits, all of which should help to attract new hires and retain current staff, ensuring the safety of our patients and our community.
• Healthy wage increases, also to increase retention of skilled caregivers —Nurses will receive overall wage increases averaging 14 percent over the life of the contract. Additionally, staff will receive increases based on years of nursing experience, which should go a long way toward attracting caregivers and improving retention of existing staff, all to the benefit of the Lower Bucks Hospital patient community.

Lower Bucks Hospital was founded by a community grassroots movement in 1954. It is known for its outstanding medical staff and skilled and compassionate nurses. Prime Healthcare is a California-based corporate umbrella for dozens of U.S. hospitals.

Last December, nearly 240 nurses went on strike, picketing and holding signs at the Bristol Township-based hospital and Suburban Community Hospital in Norristown to protest wages, benefits, and staff shortages.

“We fought hard in this contract to maintain our standard of care for the patients of Lower Bucks Hospital,” said Lower Bucks Hospital Med-Surg Nurse Carol Halner, vice president of the Nurses Association of Lower Bucks Hospital. “High-quality care for our patients is of the utmost importance to every nurse here. It’s at the heart of everything we do, whether it’s at the bedside or the bargaining table.”

The Nurses Association of Lower Bucks Hospital is an affiliate of PASNAP, the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals, which represents 11,000-plus frontline nurses and healthcare professionals across Pennsylvania.