Nurses at Baystate Franklin Medical Center in Greenfield have filed a complaint with the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) over cuts to the hospital's patient transport services.
The complaint alleges that reductions to the hospital's transportation services have put added stress on all departments, after hospital system Baystate Health ended those services from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. each evening.
Transportation workers help move patients and equipment between departments and to areas like surgery or ultrasound. Nurses say they have to pick up the slack, and that's pulling them away from their standard duties.
In a statement, Baystate Health said the decision to end patient transport in the evenings is in line with other hospitals they manage.
"Baystate Franklin Medical Center has adjusted its hours for dedicated patient transport services to be consistent with the operating hours at our two other community hospitals — Baystate Noble Hospital and Baystate Wing Hospital," the statement reads. " These new operating hours allow us to maximize our dedicated patient transport resources and leverage support staff for safe care."
But nurses say the cuts are another blow to an already understaffed hospital. At a rally to highlight the complaint, Baystate Franklin emergency room nurse Daniel Pastema said they're usually managing multiple patients at a time.
"The nurses are now bringing their patients places," Pastema said. "But when you've got your name on five, six, or maybe seven people that you're caring for, it can be hard to find time to bring your patients to their appointment on time."
Pastema also said that getting equipment in the E.R. is made more difficult without dedicated transportation workers.
"If you need IV pumps, IV poles, you need equipment, now you're looking for it," Pastema said. "And instead of being able to page someone to find that in the hospital, you're just going to go looking. And it's the nature of the E.R. you're going to be out of an IV pump at some point."
The DPH complaint comes as union nurses at Baystate Franklin have been working without a new contract since the start of the year.
Marissa Potter is an obstetrics nurse and co-chair of the bargaining unit at the Greenfield hospital. She said they're close to reaching an agreement, but still need to find common ground on staffing levels and employee health insurance.
"We want expanded nurse hours in the emergency room," Potter said. "We want an eighth nurse from 3 p.m. to 11 p.m. to take care of those patients in the hallway beds."
The nurses have voted to authorize a strike, though Potter said they haven't decided to execute one just yet. She said it's an option they like to have on the table, but would prefer to close out negotiations peacefully. She commended nurses at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, who recently held the largest nursing strike in Massachusetts history.
"I think that what just happened in Boston was wildly inspiring. It is amazing to see. Nurses are blue collar workers in a very blue collar state, and county here in Franklin County" Potter said. "So we are always considering all of our options."
Baystate Health confirmed last month it cut an unknown number of jobs across the hospital system. Leadership say they're in a $60 million hole due in part to federal changes in how hospitals receive Medicaid and Medicare reimbursements.
"Baystate Health has been engaged in a multi-year operational and financial transformation to strengthen our ability to deliver compassionate, quality and accessible care to all throughout Western Massachusetts," the hospital system said in a June statement. "Our team members have been working tirelessly to improve every aspect of our organization – engagement, quality, safety, experience, access, growth, technology, and, yes, financial performance."