Nurses Hold Bake Sale to Raise Money for Wheelchairs at Wealthy Washington Hospital Center
Monday, June 16, 2014
(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)
Offering “Donuts for Wheelchairs,”
MedStar Washington Hospital Center registered
nurses, affiliated with National Nurses United,
conducted a bake sale early Monday morning to
raise funds to help the hospital purchase
working wheelchairs and other basic supplies.
Nurses working at the region’s largest
medical center have reported a critical
shortage of basic equipment and supplies,
despite the hospital grossing over $1.1 billion
in 2011. “Nurses routinely transport patients
in broken wheelchairs, if we can find a
wheelchair at all,” said Stephen Frum, RN and
the NNU nurse representative. “We feel
that this reflects poorly on the hospital and
impedes the care that nurses are attempting to
deliver. We have attempted to address this
issue with management several times to no avail
so we are taking extraordinary
measures.” While nurses and patients go
without basic
supplies, NNU says that MedStar Health is
spending tens of thousands of dollars in legal
fees
to appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals a ruling
of the National Labor Relations
Board (NLRB). The NLRB recently ordered the
hospital to turn over staffing and
patient safety data to registered nurses who
are attempting to improve
conditions for patients at the hospital.
"Rather than provide the data and work
with nurses to improve patient safety,
management has appealed the ruling, to
the detriment of patient care," says
NNU.