PROVIDENCE, RI (AP) — Nurses voted to unionize at Roger Williams Medical Center in Providence by a majority of 2-1, union organizers said.
The win’s wide margin highlights nurses’ “deep dissatisfaction” with management, said Lynn Blais, president of United Nurses and Allied Professionals.
The Boston Globe reported Tuesday that about 220 nurses at Roger Williams will join UNAP, union spokesman Brad Dufault said. UNAP is the state’s largest health care union, representing approximately 7,000 health care workers in Rhode Island, Connecticut and Vermont.
Roger Williams Medical Center is operated by CharterCARE, which also operates Our Lady of Fatima Hospital in North Providence. The company is owned and managed by Los Angeles-based Prospect Medical Holdings.
Otis Brown, a spokesman for CharterCARE, told the newspaper the hospital would “negotiate a fair and equitable contract for the staff and our hospital,” adding, “We look forward to a positive working relationship with the new nurses’ union.”
According to Blais, the two for-profit hospitals are up for sale. Brown hasn’t responded to Globe requests for comment about a possible sale in weeks.
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