Nurses ask magistrates to take action

Staff Writer

Members of the Kentucky Nurses Association currently striking from Williamson ARH hospital asked the Pike County Fiscal Court yesterday to support their cause.

The employees, led by Local President Kathy Ford and accompanied by 93rd District State Rep. W. Keith Hall, asked the court to take action to voice their support for the nurses in what they consider an effort to get a better work environment.

Ford reiterated that the nurses, 63 of who have been on strike at Williamson ARH since Oct. 1, are not striking for financial reasons, but instead for better working conditions. ARH, she said, has offered more money to the nurses several times for them to ratify the contract.

“If money was the object here, we had at least three chances to benefit from voting for this contract,” Ford told the court. “It’s about safe, quality patient care that has decreased dramatically due to understaffing, which, in turn, increases mandatory overtime.”

That overtime, she said, creates a dangerous situation.

The community, she said, is suffering due to the strike.

“Nurses from our community are now out of a job, a job that provides for our families, puts food on our tables and pays our bills,” she said.

Ford asked the court to take dramatic action, something court members did not indicate they were willing to do.

She asked the court to withhold any funds promised, owed, applied for or due to ARH from any source until the company meets the nurses’ demands.

District Five Magistrate Hilman Dotson said it is important that a resolution be reached.

“I would like to encourage this court to support these people if they could find it in their hearts,” Dotson said. “You’ve got my support to do whatever it takes to get back to work.”

District Six Magistrate Chris Harris suggested a measured approach — drafting a letter suggesting both sides get together to work out a solution.

“We want the sides to get back together,” Harris said. “It’s a drain on our economy. We’ve got people who are out of work.”

Whether the fiscal court takes any action may be a moot point, though, according to one ARH official.

Williamson ARH Community CEO Tim Hatfield said yesterday the fiscal court does not control any funding that the company receives and that negotiations scheduled for Oct. 29 and 30 are no more likely to yield results than previous meetings.

“There is no future in negotiations,” Hatfield said. “Negotiations have already taken place and the last, best and final offer is on the table.”

Hatfield said Williamson ARH is moving forward, despite the strike. On Monday, he said, the hospital opened a sleep lab and yesterday, the hospital opened its PET CT scan program, which will allow it to do more effective diagnoses.

“We have hired permanent workers and are moving on,” Hatfield said. “We are operating at full capacity and not having any problems with staffing.”

Ultimately, he said, the negotiations are not going to change anything.

“I feel like the people on the picket lines are being misled,” Hatfield said. “The federal mediator cannot influence one side or the other to take any action.”

Hall told the court he supports the nurses in their effort to gain what they feel is a more fair contract.

“I would like to ask the court that, anything we can do in the future to be supportive of them ... any endeavor we can do to help bring (ARH officials) back to the table to negotiate faithfully would be very encouraging,” Hall said.

Ford said following yesterday’s meeting she feels like a resolution can be reached, based mostly on the company’s willingness to commit to two days of negotiations on Oct. 29 and 30.

“I am a little more hopeful than previously,” she said.

The fiscal court could not take any action in yesterday’s meeting because it was a specially called meeting, meaning no action could be taken on items that were not on the meeting’s agenda.