A federal judge threw out an attempt by NewYork-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital (NYPBMH) to block an arbitrator from hearing evidence concerning chronic understaffing from the New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) on Thursday, clearing the way for the two sides to continue negotiating about staffing standards.
Federal judge Nina Morrison threw out the petition for the pre-hearing injunction, and expressed concern that the hospital’s effort was a waste of time and resources for the court and the parties, according to a press release.
NewYork-Presbyterian hoped to delay the arbitration of a case concerning nurses at NYP-Brooklyn Methodist who allege understaffing in units including the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU); the Pediatric ICU; Pediatrics; and Mother-Baby. More than a year’s worth of the hospital’s own staffing data demonstrates the hospital’s consistent violation of safe staffing standards that put patients at risk, the press release said.
NewYork-Presbyterian attorneys claimed the hospital would suffer "irreparable harm" by proceeding with the safe staffing arbitration.
“I really have grave concerns about the fact that this case was brought at all to this court,” said Federal judge Nina Morrison.
She went on to agree with NYSNA that this legal maneuver was without merit and amounted to a form of "gamesmanship" to avoid an arbitration about the important matter of safe staffing.
“The judge saw right through NewYork-Presbyterian's attempts to delay being held accountable for violating the safe staffing standards in their contract," said NYSNA executive director Pat Kane, RN, CNOR. "It’s a shame to watch NYC’s largest hospital use its wealth to play games with everyone’s time instead of investing in safe patient care. It’s disrespectful to the court system, to nurses, and most importantly, to patients.”
There are currently six active arbitration cases concerning safe staffing at a number of NewYork-Presbyterian hospitals, including at Brooklyn Methodist. NYSNA nurses are concerned that patient safety will continue to suffer as NewYork-Presbyterian uses its substantial resources to avoid accountability for safe staffing, instead of hiring and retaining enough nurses to consistently deliver quality care.
