Ascension nurses receive lukewarm responses from Catholic bishops after the meeting

BALTIMORE (RNS) – As U.S. Catholic bishops gathered Tuesday (Nov. 12) for the fall meeting of their conference, they were expected to discuss their response to the presidential election, implementing Pope Francis’ agenda and the recently ended Vatican summit on church reforms. future.

A group of nurses were there to remind them that Catholics wanted them to talk about the role of the Catholic Church as a major provider of health care, including in the United States. At a rally outside the Marriott Waterfront Hotel, members of National Nurses United demonstrated to bring their concerns about Ascension, one of the nation’s largest Catholic hospital systems, to the bishops’ attention.

“Church Fathers, tell Ascension it is time to go Catholic,” Meghan Ross, a Catholic nurse who has worked at Ascension St. Agnes in Baltimore for eight years, said at the meeting.

In January, National Nurses United, a union representing about 225,000 registered nurses, released a report alleging that Ascension closed labor and delivery units between 2019 and 2021 at a rate higher than the national average. These closures disproportionately impacted areas with high poverty rates and Black and Latino communities, the report said.

Beyond the union’s concerns, so has The New York Times’ national reporting concerns expressed about Ascension’s human resources practices, and Standsan online magazine focused on health care, characterized the hospital system as “making extra money as a private equity firm.”

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Nurses from Ascension hospitals in Wichita, Kansas and Austin, Texas flew in to join the nurses from Baltimore.

The nurses asked the bishops to intervene to ensure Ascension complies with the bishops’ guidelines for Catholic health care, officially called the Ethical and Religious Guidelines.

Some nurses went into the Marriott to distribute handouts, claiming that Ascension has failed to follow these guidelines by disproportionately disinvesting in hospitals in impoverished communities, closing labor and delivery and pediatric units, understaffing hospitals and engaging in engage in unfair labor practices, including retaliation, threats, and threats. intimidation.

“If Jesus were to come into a hospital right now, he wouldn’t get the care he deserves,” said Monica Gonzalez, a Catholic nurse who works in the neurological department at Ascension Seton Medical Center in Austin. “Ascension doesn’t do that. As a Catholic, that hurts the most because I know what Jesus’ mission was.”

“Ascension goes out of its way not to adhere to its teachings. And it’s unfortunate because that’s all we want to do is make sure we’re taking care of our neighbor,” Gonzalez said.

Gonzalez said she spoke with several bishops, most of whom seemed “open” and said the issue was “on their radar.”

“But I feel like being on the radar is not enough. We want them to put pressure on the hospital to call on them to do what their mission says and take care of our patients,” Gonzalez said.

Union leaders told RNS they invited the bishops of Baltimore, Austin and Wichita to join their meeting, but none showed up outside along the cold, windy waterfront.

Fort Worth, Texas, Bishop Michael Olson, chairman of the health care issues committee, declined an interview request, saying the nurses’ concerns could be better addressed by the doctrine committee, which sets ethical and religious guidelines issues. That committee’s new leader, Brooklyn, New York, Auxiliary Bishop James Massa, also declined an interview request.

Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore’s executive director of communications, Christian Kendzierski, told RNS in an email that the “archbishop recognizes and commends the dedication and commitment of nurses and the critical care they provide and looks forward to a hopeful outcome as negotiations continue.” to be continued on the right track. trust.” Lori declined an interview request.

Baltimore Ascension nurses voted to form a union last November and have been in negotiations since February of this year. The union says Ascension has failed to negotiate in good faith for safe staffing levels, protection from cuts in patient care and protection from lawsuits over billing disputes and surprise billing and excessive charges.

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Melissa LaRue, a collective bargaining team member and critical care nurse, said in a statement: “The Church teaches that all people should be treated with dignity, but in our hospital we see outrage every day. even on an hourly basis – with rampant unsafe staffing and workplace violence as a result of Ascension’s ruthless pursuit of profit.”

She told RNS she regularly sees unsafe staff in her unit, where each nurse has to care for two patients. “A lot of times we have to bend over and take care of three, and that’s just dangerous,” she said.

In a statement, Justin Blome, director of marketing at Ascension St. Agnes, said the hospital’s approach to staffing and patient care is “rooted in evidence-based practices and flexible staffing models designed to respond to the needs of our patients .” The hospital is working to recruit and retain employees, part of a commitment “to support our employees and ensure safe, quality care for our patients,” he added.

Ascension St. Agnes also said it has “negotiated in good faith since the beginning of contract negotiations” and is committed to continuing “in accordance with the principles of Catholic social teaching that call us to uphold the human dignity of all respect and ensure that we act in a fair and just manner towards our employees and our trade union partners.”

At their meeting, the nurses were supported by Baltimore City Council President-elect Zeke Cohen and several local Catholics.

The Rev. Ty Hullinger, pastor of Transfiguration Catholic Community in Baltimore, told the nurses that the bishops “have a duty and obligation to listen to you.” He said, “They need to hear it and then they need to act.”

As the first workers at a Catholic facility in the archdiocese to form a union, Hullinger told the nurses they were drawing on the legacy of Moses, who formed the first union.

“How many times did Jesus do exactly the same work as you?” Hullinger asked about the nurses’ healing. “With Jesus by your side, with Moses by your side, with all our sisters and brothers throughout the millennium by your side, you will win this battle.”