OUT OF PATIENCE
Nurses rally for better staffing; Crozer Keystone blasts new owner
MEDIA » Members of the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses & Allied Employees joined Delaware County District Attorney Jack Whelan and county Councilman David White at a rally outside the county Courthouse Wednesday morning to advocate for a safe working environment at Crozer-Keystone Health System hospitals.
“Especially when you deal with the issue of workplace violence, there’s nothing more important than the safety of our nurses and our medical staff at our area hospitals,” said Whelan. “We have five hospitals here in Delaware County and our history has been one of aggressive prosecution for those individuals that come into the hospital and take advantage of our nurses.”
Whelan and White, both Republicans, are heading the GOP ballot in November’s election. Whelan is running for a Common Pleas Court judgeship and White is running for reelection.
The rally coincided with the beginning of a trial in which CKHS and CrozerKeystone Community Foundation are seeking approximately $20 million they claim is still owed under a $300 million sale last year to Prospect Medical Holdings and Prospect Crozer LLC.
As part of that deal, Prospect promised to invest $200 million into the hospital system. The union claims that has not happened, resulting in an increased number of patients that each nurse needs to handle and creating an unsafe working environment.
“Currently, we have only one security guard on at a time and it is a disgrace to have one security personnel at a hospital where often times the patient population can be challenging as far as how to manage the patient safety as well as the nurses’ safety,” said nurse Tammy Christianson.
Union organizer Nicole Kligerman said a nurse at Delaware County Memorial Hospital was recently put in a choke hold, had her hair ripped out and her head slammed against a door by a patient. That nurse was not present Wednesday because she is still suffering a concussion, according to Kligerman.
A release from the union, which represents 360 nurses and technical employees at DCMH, indicated that assault could have been
NURSES » PAGE 8