LIHUE — Wilcox Medical Center announced in a Wednesday afternoon release that the hospital will meet with a federal mediator separately from the Hawaii Nurses Association before a face-to-face meeting.
“Both parties have agreed to connect through a federal mediator for the next few days before meeting in person,” said Jen Chahanovich, the president and CEO of Wilcox Medical Center in the Hawaii Pacific Health release. “We value our nurses, and our goal is to reach an agreement.”
The 159 Wilcox nurses represented by the HNA and their supporters maintained their picket lines on Thursday, the final day of the nurses’ three-day strike. The strike is scheduled to end at 6:59 a.m. Friday after first making its appearance on the sidewalks fronting the Wilcox Medical Center on Tuesday morning. The nurses are scheduled to return to work on Friday.
“Wilcox Medical Center continues to care for the patients of Kauai, providing the high-quality care our community expects from us,” Chahanovich said. “We are fully staffed and operating as we always have. Our Wilcox medical teams are prepared to serve our community with no interruptions to services. There is no change in our ability to accept and care for patients.”
The symphony of car and truck horns accompanied the nurses’ multiple cries of “Mahalo!” on the final day of picketing. Among the sea of signs, many focused on “safe staffing.”
“Wilcox and the Hawaii Nurses’ Association agree on staffing levels for every nursing area except the Medical Surgical unit,” Chahanovich said. “This unit treats a range of patients of all ages with a care team that includes our nurses. Our offer includes staffing guidelines that are based on how sick a patient is, and the level of care needed, which can vary throughout the day. Since staffing adjustments will be based on individual needs, we are proposing that our Medical Surgical nurses each care for up to five or six patients. This aligns very closely with what our nurses are asking for.”
Jesse Dell, a Registered Nurse in the Emergency Room, was on the sidewalk on Tuesday, the first day of the three-day walkout. She acknowledged the people’s support for nurses and the work nurses do in caring for patients.
“Thank you,” Dell said. “We’re doing this for you. That’s the whole thing is for the community. We’re running ourselves into the ground for the community — for you, Kauai.”
some of these nurses should get fired! they are just using this strike to be lazy. 5 years ago my mom was in wilcox and i had to complain, some of these nurses are very rude. they told me and mom that they are busy and dont have time to help her use the bathroom. this one nurse said to me that mom was was okay and shes not dying so my mom could wait for an ice pack for her ankle. I wanted to slap her face. I made a grievance complaint but the hospital didn’t do anything. Kauai is so messed up.