Marquette, MI - UPHS Marquette nurses have delivered a report on staffing to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.
The report, entitled “Misplaced Priorities: The Deteriorating Condition of Safe Patient Care at Duke LifePoint Upper Peninsula Health System-Marquette” comes after nurses say they tried to resolve their concerns regarding unsafe staffing conditions directly with Duke LifePoint. According to a release from the Michigan Nurses Association, the management of the hospital has rejected the nurses’ proposals on two occasions.
The report tracked incidents of unsafe patient care due to short staffing since January.
In addition to the report, nurses also announced they will take a vote next week whether to authorize the UPHS Marquette RN Staff Council-MNA negotiating team to call a strike. Duke LifePoint and Marquette nurses have been in contract negotiations since April 2017. The contract extension that was negotiated in late May lapsed on July 28 after management failed to address staffing concerns. The nurses are currently working without a contract.
