Kadlec nurses, hospital officials continue contract talks

A new three-year contract for Kadlec Regional Medical Center nurses still hasn’t been finalized after months of talks.

The next negotiation and mediation session is set for Oct. 26.

“We have made progress toward a new agreement, but there are still issues to resolve,” a Kadlec spokesman said.

The Richland hospital is “not discussing details to respect the process and keep the talks at the table,” Jim Hall said in a statement, adding that “our nurses are vital members of our caregiver team and we look forward to coming to an agreement on a new contract.”

The Washington State Nurses Association, which is representing the roughly 800 nurses covered by the pact, “always wants to reach a contract that is in the best interests of our registered nurses, the community and the hospital,” said Ruth Schubert, association spokeswoman, in a statement.

The negotiations have been challenging, she said.

The main issues boil down to safe and sufficient staffing and paid time off, she said.

“Right now, RNs at Kadlec are getting paid time off requests denied and are unable to take legally mandated rest and meal breaks because of insufficient staffing,” according to information she provided.

Proposed cuts in paid time off also would “make it harder for the registered nurses to take vacations with their families, stay home when they are sick or take care of sick family members.” The proposed cuts could amount to losing thousands of dollars a year for some nurses, the information said.

“Additionally, hospital administrators want to eliminate the current sick leave system for extended illness and switch over to an outside-run short-term disability program that is very hard for employees to access for their own serious medical problems and completely eliminates any support to care for very sick family members,” the information said.

The Richland hospital has about 3,200 employees. It’s part of Providence Health & Services, having affiliated with the larger health network in 2014.

Providence is at the negotiation table, Schubert said. She said her association proposed “successorship language” that would protect current working conditions should the larger health network or another group buy or take over running Kadlec, but hospital officials turned it down.

Schubert said Kadlec is serving more patients — and sicker patients — than ever before, and the nurses continue performing to the highest standards despite the increased demand.

Without an agreement to continue, the existing contract will expire Dec. 1, Schubert said.

This story was originally published October 9, 2015 at 9:49 PM with the headline "Kadlec nurses, hospital officials continue contract talks."