SEATTLE — Thousands of unionized nurses and caregivers went on strike Tuesday morning after negotiations failed with Swedish-Providence Medical Center.
On day two of the strike, Swedish said there were no serious incidents to report, either with the picket line or with patient care due to lack of staff.
"In a typical 24-hour window, we have approximately 3,900 represented caregivers who care for our patients. On day one of the strike, we were grateful that nearly 1,100 caregivers chose to come to work in support of our patients," Swedish said in an update on Wednesday, two days into the strike.
Swedish Hospital closed its Ballard and Redmond emergency departments on Monday at 7 p.m. The emergency departments are scheduled to reopen Friday, Jan. 31 at 7:30 a.m. The hospital said people with life-threatening and urgent medical needs should go to another emergency center.
Ambulances will be set up at the Redmond and Ballard locations to redirect patients that show up to those locations.
Nurses and caretakers picketed outside Swedish First Hill, Cherry Hill, Ballard, Issaquah, Edmonds, and ambulatory care centers in Redmond and Mill Creek on Tuesday. Union members will be on picket lines 24 hours a day until the strike is over.
Nurses and caregivers will attempt to return to their jobs on Friday at 7:30 a.m., but the union said Thursday morning that "management has threatened to lock workers out for an additional two days."
The hospital said they were bringing in “a few thousand qualified workers" from all over the country to replace caregivers and to work with those crossing the picket line and those that choose not to strike.
Even with all the replacements, the hospital was not able to secure enough staff to keep all operations open.
The hospital also closed its Ballard Labor and Delivery Department on Saturday. That department will reopen Friday at 9 a.m.
Also in response to the strike, Swedish has been rescheduling non-emergent and elective surgeries.
Institutes, surgery schedulers and surgeon offices are working with patients to reschedule at the earliest possible date.
Nursery services and the adult ICU in Issaquah have been moved to higher campuses. Other services have been consolidated throughout Swedish campuses.
The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) delivered a 10-day notice to strike at Swedish on January 17.
SEIU represents approximately 7,800 registered nurses, technical and service caregivers employed by Swedish Medical Center in Seattle and Swedish Edmonds.
Hospital officials said this strike could be the biggest one they've ever had to handle.
Rey Paranada is a registered nurse who said one of the main problems at Swedish is the number of caregivers working at the hospital.
“Chronic staffing shortage has been an issue,” said Paranada. “We have 900 openings that have not been filled, and management refused to address that during our bargaining.”
But he said staffing is not the only problem. He said there are also safety issues in the hospital.
“Certain patients have brought in deadly weapons, guns that were loaded,” he said. But according to Paranada, the hospital has declined to add security guards or install metal detectors in emergency rooms.
Swedish Medical Center Director of Communications Mona Locke said no decision has been made on adding metal detectors. She blamed a nationwide nursing shortage for the number of vacant nursing positions, which she said hovered around 600.
Locke said the union’s demand for a 23 percent wage increase over four years was met with a counter-offer of just over 11 percent.
“We thought we gave one of the best proposals we could in healthcare in this region,” said Locke. She said the hospital had no plans to budge on that offer.
“We have made it very clear that because we gave such a good package of proposals that if they came to strike, all bets were off the table and we have to start negotiating again,” she said.
Locke said overall, day one of the strike went smoothly.
“From what I can tell, there has been no disruption to patient services today,” she said. “It's very quiet. People who needed care have been getting care.”
"We feel this is an unfortunate event, but we are at an impasse with negotiations," said Swedish CEO Dr. Guy Hudson. "Safe patient care during this time is our number one priority. We will not compromise on patient care."
The hospital said it will continue to evaluate staffing levels.
Woods Rogers, who is on the negotiating team, said they are on strike primarily because of staffing levels.
"We do not want to be out here right now. We'd all much rather be at work," he said as the strike began.
Nurses said patient and caregiver safety is at risk because of staffing shortages and the need for more safety measures.
"I care for my patients very deeply," said Cindy Hale, a nurse who has worked at Swedish for 38 years. "I want to be able to give quality, individualized care and with the working conditions as they are now, I can't do that."
"In one shift, I've worked 16 hours without a break, without even lunch," said neurosurgery nurse Danny Ramirez. "It's hard to maintain good patient care when we don't have the backup to come and relieve us."
Swedish said they want to address those staffing issues, but ultimately won't let the unions set the staffing level standards.
Hudson said the situation is still very much in flux. Along with the two emergency rooms and one birthing center shutting down, other facilities may close as well, if necessary.
The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Swedish Hospital in Issaquah has intermittently stopped taking patients.
Hospital officials will re-evaluate the staffing situation and the emergency department closures on Friday.
No new negotiations are currently scheduled.
The strike is costing Swedish at least $11 million.