ALBANY — Nurses at Albany Medical Center on Tuesday continued to call on hospital administration to address what they described as a staffing crisis that is impacting patient care for Capital Region residents and leading to burnout and high rates of turnover.
At a news conference in front of the hospital on Tuesday, members of the New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA), the union representing Albany Med nurses, presented findings from a staffing-deficiency report that it says not only demonstrates that staffing issues are prevalent at the hospital, but that the problem is greater than initially thought, and hospital administration is refusing to address the issue.
“The report spells out in black and white what nurses have known all along: there is a staffing crisis and Albany Med and hospital leadership are refusing to adequately address it,” said Jaimie Alaxanian, a registered nurse and member of the collective bargaining committee. “They continue to hide the truth because it's ugly.”
Union leaders held a press conference Tuesday after resuming contract negotiations with Albany Med Monday after months of stalled talks. Union representatives said no progress was made in the first day back at it.
“Yesterday’s negotiations made it clear that Albany Med is still trying to stonewall nurses to exclude us from the staffing committee process and any attempt to address the staffing crisis at this hospital,” said Jennifer Bejo, a local NYSNA leader overseeing negotiations, during Tuesday’s press conference.
For months, the nurses union has called for hospital administration to share with them the findings of the report that was crafted over several months by the state Department of Health and documents 480 violations of the state’s minimum-staffing law over several months across 26 units, including 32 violations in the neonatal intensive care unit (ICU).
Under the 2022 staffing law, hospitals are required to establish a clinical staffing committee and must have no more than two ICU patients for every one nurse on duty. The law allows for civil penalties for failing to remedy a violation caused by a failure to act, but allows for the Department of Health to take into account emergency situations.
But the staffing-deficiency report was never shared, according to the union, which eventually obtained a copy by filing a Freedom of Information Law request through the state Department of Health.
The report documents the 480 previously-known violations. But it also shows an additional 24 violations of procedural law that the union says it was previously unaware of.
The report also includes two letters dated October and December 2024 from state health officials advising hospital officials that corrective action plans submitted by the hospital in response to the violations were “not responsive” to state laws that had been violated.
“In accordance with Public Health Law … the Department may impose a civil penalty when the hospital fails to submit or implement a corrective action plan in response to the violation or violations identified,” reads a Dec. 23, 2024 letter from the department’s Clinical Staffing Review Unit.
A failure to share the report, the union maintains, demonstrates that hospital administration is unwilling to address the staffing issue, according to Alaxanian, who said administration has cut hospital beds in response to the issue.
“Time and time again they have continued to show that they do not want to work with us collaboratively,” she said. “They do not want to address the massive issues and they continue to hide the truth. They have pitted themselves against nurses, acting as if we’re the enemy.”
Matthew Markham, a spokesperson for Albany Med, pushed back on those claims, stating that patient care remains a priority and that the hospital hired more than 300 registered nurses last year and the turnover rate is 3% below the national average.
“At no point during that time was patient care ever compromised, and quality care continued,” he said. “In addition, we made great strides in our perennial recruitment and retention efforts.”
Markham also noted that the report's findings are months old and that hospital administration is focused on patient care. He referenced the union previously rejecting a contract offer from hospital administration.
“Our focus now is not on the past, but rather, it is on the care we provide today and in the future. We agree with NYSNA that recruiting even more nurses is critical to our mission. Allowing our nurses to vote on a contract is the way to do it,” he said. “Albany Med’s proposal includes robust enhancements to salaries and benefits and will reinforce a competitive position in the market. Unfortunately, we cannot implement all those enhancements until the union permits a vote.”
Staffing has been at the center of a monthslong contract negotiation between the union and hospital administration. The nurses contract expired in July 2024 and the union has called for the hospital to take action to improve staffing, including bolstering the wages and benefits of nurses.
In December, Albany Med CEO Dennis McKenna offered what he described as the hospital’s “final offer” that he said would increase wages and address many of the concerns raised by Albany Med nurses.
But the union rejected the offer, calling it a “slap in the face.”
