Subject: Launching negotiations witha shared focus on the future

Dear Colleagues,

On Thursday October 3, 2024, we held the first session of negotiations for the next MNA contract. Our hope is that we continue our long history of collaborative discussions leading to a strong new contract that meets shared goals for retaining and recruiting outstanding nurses that share our commitment to high quality, community-based care.

As we move into these discussions, I want to acknowledge that challenges facing all health care providers continue to impact our nursing team. Planning for the long-term financial stability of this hospital has required some recent staffing changes throughout the hospital, including several nurse leaders and a limited number of front-line nursingroles. I pledge to do everything possible to support our entire nursing team as we adjust to an updated operating model.  

Retaining our talented nursing staffis a top priority. We have taken steps to engage staff in defining nurse practice standards and cultivating collaborative and supportive unit cultures that support a dual focus on providing outstanding patient care and fostering professional growth through our unit based and hospital wide nurse practice councils.  We also continue to focus on recruitment and have welcomed 38 new nurse residents to BID Plymouth who arebeing precepted by our tenured nurses. We are taking particular care to assurethat these nurses, as well as those who have successfully completed the Nurse Resident Program, many of whom are playing important roles in hard to fill night and weekend shifts, are well supported as they launch their career withBID Plymouth.

While our first negotiating session focused largely on logistical issues, we did establish a schedule of full daybargaining sessions through December. Our next bargaining session will be on October 17. As part of our commitment to timely communications, I will plan to share an update with you directly after every negotiation session. In addition, these updates will be posted on a dedicated website: www.BIDPNursingUpdates.org.  

I am grateful for your contributions, your ongoing commitment to patient care, and the collaborative environment we have built.  

Best regards,

Donna Doherty RN BSN MMHC

SVP Patient Care Services & ChiefNursing Officer

BID Plymouth

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