Vital Signs newsletter: EMMC preparing for nurses strike

This morning the nurses union at Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor announced plans to strike, as the clock ran down on their temporary contract with the hospital. While EMMC officials said they still hope to reach an agreement, the hospital is taking steps to hire replacement nurses during the strike, planned for July 13 and 14.

A main sticking point: staffing. The union wants EMMC to set nurse-patient staffing ratios to ensure better, safer care. But the hospital has resisted that move since at least 2010, when unionized nurses last walked the picket line and the hospital temporarily banned them from the property.

EMMC is not alone in staring down the barrel of a strike. Nursing strikes have also been threatened recently in New York, Massachusetts, California and Illinois.

Eastern Maine Medical Center preparing for nurses strike

Other top health stories:

Should the Internet pay for your health care? Maine kidney surgery raises ethical quandary

Medical campaigns in Maine posted on GoFundMe.com have raised more than $2.3 million since the site’s launch in May 2010. Who is mostly likely to convince donors to click, deemed by the Internet as more “deserving” of medical care than another?

Maine veterans struggle using plan to cut long waits for care

Local Vietnam veteran Ron Warner was recently told he would have to wait three months to find out if he had cancer.

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Compiled by BDN Health Editor Jackie Farwell

Jackie Farwell

About Jackie Farwell

I'm the health editor for the Bangor Daily News, a Bangor native, a UMaine grad, and a weekend crossword warrior. I never get sick of writing about Maine people, geeking out over health care data, and finding new ways to help you stay well. I live in Gorham with my husband Nick and our hound dog Riley.