Agreement advances patient care and provides affordable health coverage for RNs.
BEAVER, PA – Registered nurses at Heritage Valley Beaver voted today to ratify a new contract with their hospital.
“This contract now preserves affordable healthcare for nurses and addresses some of our key staffing concerns. We will continue working every day to advocate for better staffing and the highest quality of care,” said Molly Romigh, RN and union chapter president. “We’re pleased to reach an agreement that ensures registered nurses at Heritage Valley Beaver will not move backward as our health system moves forward.”
The agreement provides affordable health insurance for nurses and their families, including fair deductibles, and guaranteed raises of two percent in each year of the contract.
“Everyone deserves affordable health insurance. We’re proud that we stood together and fought against high deductibles in our health plan, because we know that our hospital is an anchor in our community and helps set the standard for pay and benefits in Beaver County,” said Jill Richner, RN and union chapter vice president.
Nurses and management were able to come together to address staffing concerns in some key departments of the hospital. As professionals on the front lines of patient care, nurses will continue to identify areas where staffing improvements are needed, and will continue to advocate for improvements in those areas so that our patients can receive the highest quality of care.
“As nurses, our primary goal is to provide the best care for our patients,” said Mary Yaria, RN and member of the negotiating committee. “The agreements we reached with our hospital management are a start and we are going to continue to be united for making sure they have the highest quality of care every day.”
The contract also contains agreements that improve clinical education for nurses, which will advance quality of care for patients.
The contract will be effective from July 1, 2016 to June 30, 2019.
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SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania is the state’s largest and fastest-growing union of nurses and health care workers, uniting nearly 45,000 nurses, professional and technical employees, direct care workers, and service employees in hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, home and community-based services, and State facilities across the Commonwealth. SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania members are committed to improving the lives of health care workers and ensuring quality care and healthy communities for all Pennsylvanians.