Nurses at Einstein Medical Center on the verge of having a new contract

Less than a week after threatening to strike, nurses at Einstein Medical Center are on the verge of signing a new contract.

The Einstein Nurses United’s bargaining committee this week reached a tentative agreement with the Jefferson Health-owned hospital on North Broad Street. The full membership of the union will vote on whether to approve a three-year contract on Wednesday, according to the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals, which the Einstein local is a part of.

The terms of their tentative agreement were not disclosed.

» READ MORE: Einstein nurses’ union votes to authorize a strike

The nurses’ bargaining team came to the June 19 negotiation session with the union membership’s authorization to call for a strike, if an agreement remained elusive. They were willing to issue a 10-day notice ahead of a strike if that session wasn’t productive, Patrick Kelly, president of Einstein Nurses United, told The Inquirer last week.

“Come Monday, we either get this done, or the nurses are ready to strike over it,” the intensive care nurse said at the time.

The contract would be the nurses’ first negotiated fully with Jefferson Health, which completed its acquisition of Einstein in 2021.

Damien Woods, Jefferson’s associate vice president for news and media, called the tentative agreement fair and competitive, noting that it accounted for the financial struggles that hospitals face.

“We believe the new agreement will allow us to continue delivering the exceptional care our community expects, while also allowing us to recruit and retain top nursing talent,” Woods said.

» READ MORE: Jefferson Health posted a $117 million loss, as temporary staffing costs remain higher than expected

Einstein Nurses United ‘s roughly 900 members have been without a contract since the end of April. Last month, several dozen picketed outside the hospital to call for better staffing and higher pay.

Their concerns included violent and abusive incidents at Einstein that threaten staff safety, The Inquirer reported last month. Nurses worried especially about staff shortages, inadequate security, and lax protocols for emergencies as factor that make their working environment dangerous.

Earlier this month the state House Health Committee advanced the Patient Safety Act, which would make Pennsylvania the second state in the nation to require nurse staffing minimums in hospitals. PASNAP and other nursing unions advocated heavily for the bill, saying that it will improve patient care and bring back to the bedside nurses who left hospital jobs.