CWA District 1 Healthcare Workers File Over 2,500 New Safe Staffing Complaints from Western New York with the Department of Health

CWA District 1

For Immediate Release: March 5, 2024 at 10:00am EST

Media Contact: CWANY@berlinrosen.com or Steph Derstine, steph.derstine@berlinrosen.com, 512.820.7903

CWA District 1 Healthcare Workers File Over 2,500 New Safe Staffing Complaints from Western New York with the Department of Health

 

On the heels of thousands of complaints filed in November at New York State Hospitals, CWA District 1 has filed new complaints exposing Buffalo’s Catholic Health hospital system staffing shortages 

These complaints, coming one year after implementation of the 2021 Clinical Staffing Committee Law, show the pervasive nature of unsafe staffing ratios across New York State and underline the need for the Department of Health to aggressively enforce the law

BUFFALO, NEW YORK – Communications Workers of America District 1 (CWA D1) reported over 2,500 complaints under hospitals’ clinical staffing plans filed with the Department of Health (DOH) on behalf of healthcare workers across Catholic Health in Buffalo. The new batch of staffing complaints comes on the heels of thousands that were submitted by CWA D1 in November across Kaleida Health in Buffalo, Arnot Ogden in Elmira, and New York Presbyterian in Manhattan.

“Our members have been grappling with understaffing for far too long. We must address the critical staffing shortages plaguing Catholic Health System facilities. Our efforts to work with Catholic Health System management to improve staffing at the hospitals just aren’t enough and our patients and our staff deserve better,” says Brian Magner, President of CWA Local 1133, based in Buffalo. “We urge the Department of Health to prioritize robust enforcement of this law. Until we address the pervasive short staffing, our members will continue to document staffing complaints and raise awareness about these working conditions that jeopardize the safety and health of our community.” 

The 2021 Clinical Staffing Committee law requires staffing committees at each hospital to negotiate staffing plans for each patient care unit. These staffing plans establish the number of patients each healthcare worker can be assigned. Since January 2023, New York has cited fifteen hospitals for violating their agreed-upon staffing plans.

The complaints submitted today were gathered across Catholic Health’s Mercy Hospital of Buffalo, Kenmore Mercy Hospital, and Sisters of Charity Hospital, St. Joseph’s Campus, and include:

 

• Despite the demanding nature of critical care patients, the Hospital only provided nine RNs to care for twenty six patients, falling short of the staffing legally required. The number of aides were also deficient by 50%. This staffing shortfall in the ICU raises significant concerns about patient safety and underscores the immediate need for corrective action to ensure safe patient care.
• Thirty nine patients required care on a telemetry unit. Alarmingly, the hospital did not designate a charge nurse to oversee operations. The available six RNs did not meet the required ratio of 1:4. Instead each nurse was tasked to care for between six and seven patients. The aides were each assigned thirteen patients, again far exceeding the required maximum. 
• On one night shift, only a single RN was assigned to care for the unit’s six patients. The RN was stretched to their limits and was supported by just one Nurse Assistant. Not only did this scenario fail to meet the required staffing ratios in the collective bargaining agreement, but also posed significant risks to patient care and safety. Such instances of inadequate staffing have persisted.

The safety and security of healthcare workers is a major concern of the union and of the community. Hospital Management at St. Joseph’s unilaterally submitted a staffing plan that allows the Hospital to assign up to 20 patients to one RN and 40 to one LPN in the addiction unit. This short staffing endangers both staff and patients in the only unit other than the Emergency Department that is open on weekends. No management or supervision are present to assist or direct operations, leaving those duties to the overworked nurses, in addition to their already overwhelming workload. 

Following the thousands of complaints submitted by CWA D1 in November, DOH has begun conducting unannounced visits to hospitals across the state to investigate their adherence to the 2021 Clinical Staffing Committee law.

"At CWA District 1, we've been steadfast in our commitment to implementing the CSC law in our healthcare facilities, standing alongside our members and patients every step of the way fighting for safe staffing.” said CWA District 1 Area Director, Debora Hayes. “As our members file complaints when staffing plans are being violated, the DOH must intervene and confront the short staffing epidemic  across the state so we can deliver the safe and quality care that New York State residents urgently require and rightfully deserve." 

To help address the staffing crisis, healthcare unions throughout New York have been calling for the DOH to robustly enforce the 2021 staffing law and for state leaders to fully fund Medicaid reimbursement in the FY25 State Budget. 

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CWA District 1 represents 145,000 workers in 200 CWA local unions in New York, New Jersey, New England, and eastern Canada. CWA members work in telecommunications, health care, higher education, manufacturing, broadcast and cable television, commercial printing and newspapers, state, local, and country government.