text: Nurses and supporters delivered a petition with more than 1,000 signatures to Baystate CEO Dr. Mark Keroack and will hold lighted signs saying “BAYSTATE: RESPECT NURSES AND OUR PATIENTS!!!” on the Route 291 Springfield overpass
  Baystate Health continues to reject proposals to protect and improve patient care services and refuses to agree to contracts that will help recruit and retain nurses
  WESTFIELD, Mass. – The registered nurses of Baystate Noble Hospital and Baystate Home Health, represented by the Massachusetts Nurses Association, will hold a safe, socially distanced Light Brigade action in downtown Springfield on Wednesday, January 27 calling on Baystate Health to reach fair contracts with the nurses that respect and value the care they have provided patients during the COVID-19 pandemic.
  Noble nurses, along with Massachusetts Jobs with Justice and community supporters, have also delivered a public petition with more than 1,000 signatures urging Baystate Health CEO Dr. Mark Keroack to agree to a fair contract with Noble nurses that values the care they provide and improves and preserves local, quality care. That petition can be seen at bit.ly/supportnoblenurses and media can request a copy of the petition by emailing firstname.lastname@example.org.
  Light Brigade RN Action
  Where: On the Route 291 overpass on Chestnut Street in Springfield between Sacred Heart Church and the Baystate Health HQ at 280 Chestnut Street.
  When: 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, January 27
  Who: Nurses from Baystate Noble Hospital and Baystate Home Health, family, friends, and community supporters. All are welcome to join.
  “We have tirelessly cared for members of our community during this pandemic, putting ourselves and our family members at risk for COVID-19 infection to keep patients safe,” said Paul Dubin, RN and MNA Co-Chair at Noble Hospital. “High infection rates and recurring surges show the intense challenges and risks we still face. Yet nearly a year after our nurses started negotiating, Baystate Health still will not agree to a contract that values our hard work and allows Noble Hospital to recruit and retain the nurses it needs.”
  “The pandemic has put a tremendous strain on home health caregivers and our patients,” said Christina Ribeiro, a nurse with Baystate Home Health and Co-Chair of the MNA Bargaining Committee. “Throughout the last year, Baystate Home Health nurses have put everything we have into caring for our patients under extremely challenging circumstances, and now our employer wants to take away sick time and make our working conditions even harder. We feel completely disrespected and concerned for our patients, who need enough healthy, experienced nurses to care for them.”
  Additional information on Baystate Noble nurses’ fight for the future of their community hospital: www.massnurses.org/NobleInfo.
  Founded in 1903, the Massachusetts Nurses Association is the largest union of registered nurses in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Its 23,000 members advance the nursing profession by fostering high standards of nursing practice, promoting the economic and general welfare of nurses in the workplace, projecting a positive and realistic view of nursing, and by lobbying the Legislature and regulatory agencies on health care issues affecting nurses and the public.