RI Hospital Nurses Petition For Pay Raises Amid Pandemic

PROVIDENCE, RI — The state's largest nurses union delivered a petition Tuesday, calling on Lifespan to increase the wages of Rhode Island Hospital nurses, amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The petition, sent by the United Nurses and Allied Professionals, garnered more than 2,000 signatures. It called on Lifespan to "prioritize patient care and treat the nurses and health professionals at Rhode Island Hospital with the same respect as their counterparts at other Lifespan hospitals in the state."

A Lifespan spokesperson said the company is involved in "active, ongoing discussions" with union leaders about increasing wages and benefits.

"We provide our nurses and technical professionals with a highly competitive wage and benefits package," a spokesperson said in a statement. "The hospital is committed to demonstrating the high value we place on all of our employees and recognize that these are extremely difficult times for all workers, but especially those who work in healthcare. We have developed generous incentive plans for nurses and other clinical support positions in the form of enhanced overtime pay and cash bonuses for working extra hours."

"We provide a critical component of patient care in Rhode Island, yet during this unprecedented health crisis, Lifespan seems to have forgotten about us. While the nurses at Miriam Hospital and Newport Hospital are being recognized for their front line service with appropriate compensation increases during this crisis, Lifespan has refused to do the same for Rhode Island Hospital nurses. This comes at a time when nursing shortages throughout the country have left nurse-to-patient staffing ratios at dangerous levels."

Sims also said the coronavirus pandemic has pushed the state's health care system to its brink and wouldn't have survived without the selfless efforts of nurses at Rhode Island Hospital.

"This is not the time Lifespan should be prioritizing one set of nurses and health professionals over another," Sims said. "It is time to treat all nurses and health professionals with the dignity and respect they deserve."