Nurses give Barton Memorial Hospital a 10-day notice of a strike

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Barton Memorial Hospital received a ten-day notice from the California Nurse's Association on Monday, informing them that the nurses at the South Lake Tahoe hospital intend to strike on February 15, 2019.

Negotiations have been ongoing between the nurse's union and Barton Health since the Registered Nurses (RNs) at Barton Memorial Hospital and Lake Tahoe Surgery Center voted 123 to 17 to unionize on November 15, 2017.

Since their first bargaining table discussions in March 2018, the union and Barton have reached 26 tentative agreements on the terms of the labor agreement, but the key issues of wages and benefits have not yet been discussed.

"We are making steady progress and are hopeful discussions will continue between both parties, as nobody wins in a strike," said Barton's Director of Marketing, Public Relations & Patient Experience Mindi Befu.

Nurses both retired and current picketed along Highway 50 on December 4, 2018, bringing their issues to the public.

On January 24, 2019, the union held a vote where their members decided they would strike if necessary "should their union and management fail to come to an agreement on issues that concern them at the bargaining table."

"Barton Health is forcing the nurses to strike over several key issues," said Barton RN Beth Dameral, a spokesperson for the union. "They are currently mirroring national anti-union measures in order to limit our ability to advocate for patients and ourselves."

National Labor Relations Board requires that a union representing healthcare workers provide the employer with a notice 10 days in advance of the strike date. With that notice, the hospital can hire temporary nurses to fill the gap since they will be offering all services during the strike.

"Delivering safe, high-quality care to the Lake Tahoe community is our top priority," said Befu. "Barton Health has taken the necessary steps to fulfill our responsibilities to our community: preserving quality care for our patients. We have contracted with qualified and experienced replacement RNs (registered nurses) to work alongside Barton staff and physicians. The staffing agency is Joint Commission certified and has successfully staffed many nursing strikes across the country and California."

Even though the nurses would strike for one day, February 15, they wouldn't be back to work until February 20 (or their next working day after that date). The agencies providing replacement nurses require Barton to use them for a minimum of five days, regardless of whether the strike is for one day or four days.

"Registered Nurses at Barton have spent years working under conditions of poor staffing and not being able to get breaks," said Dameral. "Barton’s predatory system of putting over a quarter of its own nurses in collections for using the healthcare benefit they provided has also contributed to dissatisfaction."

To that comment, Barton responded.

"Barton offers all patients several options and opportunities to pay their medical bills," explained Befu."Due to HIPAA regulations, we cannot identify employees separately from all patients. Barton treats all patients the same and utilizes common billing practices following hospital national standards. A patient is only sent to collections after months of multiple communications and without payment in full or an interest-free payment plan set-up. Barton offers financial assistance to those who qualify and offers a monthly interest-free payment plan to anyone who requests it."