DHMC nurses in talks with reps. to unionize
Following complaints stemming from recent budget cuts and overcrowding at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, nurses at the hospital are considering unionization and are currently engaged in discussions with Massachusetts Nurses Association representatives, DHMC media relations manager Rick Adams said in an interview with The Dartmouth. Representatives from the Massachusetts Nurses Association first attempted to unionize DHMC in 2008, but those efforts ended in 2009, Adams said. The renewed interest in unionization was likely the result of a June "Management Action Plan" a six-step plan attempting to fill a $15 million gap in DHMC's budget for fiscal year 2010 that instituted policy changes that were unpopular with several nurses, Adams said. "We're seeing declining revenues, fewer patients," Adams said.
