Nurses Raise Alarm about Vacancies at Fox
ONEONTA—Nurses at A.O. Fox Hospital will hold a “Speak Out” event in front of the Emergency Room entrance on Main Street at 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday, December 13. The nurses, along with the New York State Nurses Association and community and labor allies, including the Central New York Area Labor Federation, wish to raise community awareness about an “unprecedented and alarming” vacancy rate in the hospital’s nursing staff.
“A.O. Fox Hospital is facing a crisis of care due to severe nurse understaffing,” the nurses and NYSNA said in a release. “The hospital faces more departures each day as it struggles to retain nurses due to poor working conditions.”
“To make up for vacant staff positions, the hospital has relied on expensive temporary travel nurses who often do not have the same training or commitment to the community as staff nurses,” they continued. “At A.O. Fox, the entire night shift is staffed by temporary nurses. Having an entire hospital staffed with temporary workers can put patient safety at risk. So far this year, the hospital has spent an outrageous $3.3 million on temp travel nurses, instead of investing in hiring and retaining local nurses.”
The nurses and their allies seek to educate the community on the situation and speak out to demand a fair contract that will help recruit and retain enough nurses to provide safe, consistent care for the community.
NYSNA represents more than 42,000 members across the state. It is New York’s largest union and professional association for registered nurses. A.O. Fox Hospital is part of Bassett Healthcare Network.
“The safety and care of our patients, communities and caregivers is always our highest priority,” wrote Bassett Healthcare Director of Public Relations Gabrielle Argo in a statement on Tuesday afternoon. “We deeply appreciate the extraordinary work our nurses do each day to care for our patients and communities.
“A.O. Fox Hospital is currently in negotiations with the New York State Nurses Association related to a collective bargaining agreement with RNs at A.O. Fox Hospital,” Argo wrote. “A.O. Fox Hospital leadership is committed to continuing negotiations in good faith with NYSNA representatives to reach a mutually agreed upon contract agreement.
“A.O. Fox Hospital—and the greater Bassett Healthcare Network—like hospitals and health systems around the country, is facing unprecedented shortages of healthcare staff. We are allocating tremendous resources toward recruiting and retaining nurses and other clinical staff to our local area, as well as finding innovative ways to best meet the needs of our patients. While it is our preference to hire permanent staff, it is necessary at this time to use temporary and travel nurses to bolster our staff so that we can continue to provide the care our patients and communities deserve,” Argo said.
Fox Hospital during the decades I worked in healthcare in Oneonta, was a vibrant, busy and highly competent city hospital. The hospital is now a shell of its former self. The hospital had more beds than Bassett and did more surgeries than Bassett. In a town with 2 colleges and a much larger population than Bassett Hospital in Cooperstown, Fox was a huge asset to the County. Today Fox is mostly empty, only one ward is open for inpatient care. The number of surgeries has decreased, with most trauma and major surgeries being done in Cooperstown.
From my perspective, Bassett has a different need that Fox didn’t . Bassett is a hospital with students, interns, and residents in training. The state and credentialing boards require students to have exposure to many patients and different types of emergencies, trauma and illnesses. Fox as a community hospital didn’t have students and didn’t have the same demands on them.
When I first moved to Otsego county Bassett had residents in many different specialties, ie eye surgery, OBGYN, pediatrics and others. Many of those programs were shut down, by either the state of by Bassett’s board, I’m not sure which.
Bassett needed Fox’s patient numbers to keep their accreditation as a teaching hospital. Bassett has become a monopoly in Otsego county. I personally. think this has made healthcare in the county worse not better.