EAST NORRITON — The sun rose over Suburban Community Hospital early Friday morning as nurses began the first of a five-day strike on the picket line.
Around 90 nurses were seen bundled up on the cold December morning as they gathered outside the hospital to march on the sidewalk along Dekalb Pike in East Norriton Township.
Signs depicting their message were held high, reading “safe staffing saves lives,” “only a GRINCH would take away our staffing,” “All I want for Christmas is quality health care,” and “RETAIN US RESPECT US our patients are worth it.”
Contracts expired for members of the Suburban General Nurses Association, affiliates of the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals, several months ago. Staffing, wages and health care were top priorities for union leadership as they went to the bargaining table with Prime Healthcare, of Ontario, Calif., which acquired the medical facility back in 2016.
Negotiations have been ongoing for the past three months, according to Suburban General Nurses Association Co-president Shannan Giambrone. Roughly two dozen nurses participated in an informational picketing session back in October, and they gave notice of their intent to strike last week to the hospital located at 2701 Dekalb Pike in East Norriton Township.
Now they’re walking the line and will continue over the course of a five-day strike period. Nurses will take shifts during designated morning and afternoon times on Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Tuesday, with some coordination with nurses who are striking at Bucks County-based Lower Bucks Hospital, also owned by Prime Healthcare.
A statement from the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals said that no striking will take place on Christmas Day.
Could Suburban, other local Prime-owned hospitals change hands?
A Philadelphia Inquirer article published earlier this week hinted that Prime Healthcare may be looking to sell its three hospitals in the Philadelphia region. Along with the East Norriton Township Suburban Community Hospital, Prime Healthcare also owns the Lower Bucks and Roxborough Memorial hospitals, in Bristol and Philadelphia, respectively.
A notice from Xnergy, a Los Angeles investment bank did not signal the hospital conglomerate by name, but did note “acute-care hospitals with one owner and an average of 136 beds,” per the Dec. 19 report.
Elizabeth Nikels, Prime Healthcare’s corporate vice president of communications, declined to address the matter directly.
“Prime Healthcare’s mission is to always do what’s best for our communities and patients, however, we do not comment on strategic merger and acquisition initiatives,” Nikels said in a statement on Wednesday.
This was news to Giambrone, who said “we put in an immediate information request to find out what we can find out about the sale.” While she observed that the “local administration seemed equally surprised by the information,” Giambrone said the timing was “convenient,” but not entirely surprising.
“It’s interesting that they would decide to release it just as we’re going outside of the hospital. We always know that they’re going to try to blame us or anything that happens at the hospital because the nurses went on strike,” she said, adding that “we know these things take months to put into place.”
“This isn’t something that they just sort of decided right away to do. So again what we say to the nurses is this is not linked to us. This is something that they’ve obviously been considering. We know that they’re losing money in the region,” she said. “They’ve never really been able to get a foothold in Pennsylvania, which is their problem.”
“There are large health care systems in the area and they all work within themselves, and when you’re the little guy on the outside, it’s hard to break into the market. “They’ve not been able to break into the market, and I’m not shocked that they want to sell,” Giambrone continued. “I just think it’s convenient that they’ve decided to make this announcement just as the nurses are going outside the hospital.”
However, Giambrone maintained that contract negotiations would not be impacted by any potential change in ownership.
“We don’t have a contract and we need a contract. So we’re going to continue to fight for a contract,” she said.
“Typically in these situations, and again I’m speaking hypothetically and typically,” Giambrone said that “the hospital will look to settle this contract with us because they don’t want to be in a fight with their largest portion of their staff, which is your nursing staff, while they’re trying to sell.”
In the event of a sale, Giambrone said steps are involved with the union related to “adopting our contractor” and “set(ting) initial terms and conditions.” But it’s something Giambrone said she’s dealt with before during past acquisitions including Prime Healthcare and the former Mercy Suburban Hospital.
The Xnergy notice also cited financial losses at the Philadelphia area hospitals, according to reports. Aiming for a new buyer to purchase the three local hospitals, the report said the notice indicated “the seller ‘believes conversion to behavioral health is a viable alternative.’”
That notion was something Giambrone was very much against. The intensive care unit nurse called for the hospital she’s worked at for the past two decades to stay an “acute care” facility. Giambrone was also vehemently opposed to a for-profit model, which she said “we feel strongly that for-profit organizations in the health care world is not a good model and we should not allow that in the state of Pennsylvania,” as she referenced closures “very large medical facilities” including Hahnemann and Delaware County Memorial hospitals that were “brought down by a for-profit model.”
If a sale did take place, she proposed a nonprofit organization take up residence.
“We would want to make sure that the care is still available to the people in the community. Again, Norristown is a very underserved community — Norristown, Bridgeport, parts of Conshohocken — and those are the patients that come to us,” Giambrone said. “So we don’t want to see those patients disadvantaged again by another company that’s coming in just to think that they can make money off of people’s health.”
Michelle Aliprantis, Prime Healthcare’s regional director of marketing and communications for the Pennsylvania region, issued a statement to MediaNews Group on the matter:
“At Lower Bucks Hospital and Suburban Community Hospital, we continue to bargain in good faith with the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses & Allied Professionals (PASNAP) leadership to reach an agreement in the best interests of our hospitals, employees, and, most importantly, those we serve. Proposals have been delivered to the union from the hospitals that would increase wages and provide a valuable healthcare plan, maintain important benefits, and be competitive with other hospitals in the market.
It is disappointing that despite progress being made, the union has walked away from negotiations and has chosen to strike, but that will not impact our commitment to providing quality patient care to our communities throughout the holidays and always. Some staff made the decision to put patients first by crossing the picket line. We value all of our employees and their dedication to caring for our community, and we are committed to ensuring a workplace that honors their work and continues to provide lifesaving care for the most vulnerable.
During this time, please know that our hospitals will remain open, and our commitment to providing high-quality care remains our top priority. We are fully staffed with qualified temporary resources across our nursing and non-nursing departments, and we will maintain services and compliance with regulatory standards. As part of our preparations, we continue communicating with our area providers about our contingency plans.
Together with all of our valued caregivers, we look forward to reaching an agreement that rewards our staff while also promoting the delivery of safe, high-quality care to our patients.”
