Washington Hospital Center Charged for Withholding Health and Safety Information from Nurses

(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)Washington’s biggest private hospital, Washington Hospital Center, will stand trial in July on charges by the federal government of refusing to disclose critical information regarding patient safety to National Nurses United, the union representing hospital nurses. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued the formal complaint on April 26 and will hold a hearing before an administrative law judge in July. “Nurses are eager to improve patient care in our hospitals,” said Lori Marlowe, RN, chair of NNU’s Professional Practice and Patient Safety Committee at Washington Hospital Center. “Unfortunately, the hospital corporations do not want to even discuss needed patient safety measures like adequate staffing with bedside nurses and this complaint from the NLRB is further proof.  That is why we are demanding the Council of the District of Columbia take swift action to pass the Patient Protection Act of 2013 and that Mayor Gray sign the bill into law,” Marlowe said.