Dozens rally in Lewiston after landslide union vote, call for fired nurses to be reinstated

Roughly 80 people rallied across the street from Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston on Friday to support the facility’s newly unionized nurses and call on the hospital to reinstate nurses that were fired and suspended. 

The crowd held signs while passing cars honked in support. Several staff members inside the hospital could be seen watching the crowd through the windows. 

Kelli Brennan, co-president of the Maine State Nurses Association, said she knew the nurses began to organize for one reason: to save their hospital. 

“Because nurses know what happens when your patient loads increase,” she said. “What happens when you don’t have enough clean bed linens to take care of your patients. And what happens when the hospital you have loved and you have given your lives to is captured by soulless, profit-hungry clowns who care nothing for you, your patients or your community.”

The CMMC nurses voted to join the Maine State Nurses Association Thursday, with 91% in support of joining. 

The union said the hospital has fired 15 nurses and suspended 5 more in the last several weeks.

A spokesperson for CMMC said the hospital received information about nurses being intimidated and harassed, and the organization has “serious concerns” about the conduct.

“The hospital respects the rights of our nurses, including their right to make their own decision regarding union representation,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “Those rights are best protected when every nurse is able to make a free and informed choice without intimidation, harassment or improper interference. We are carefully reviewing the circumstances surrounding the election and evaluating the appropriate legal process to ensure these concerns are fully and fairly addressed.” 

Katie Grinnell, a registered nurse at CMMC who was suspended and then fired, said at the rally Friday that the disciplinary action did not slow down the unionization efforts. 

“Our nurses who remained at the bedside were angry, and what was meant to scare them only fueled their fire,” Grinnell said. “Because we were all fighting for what our nurses and our patients need, the level of care our community deserves.”

She said the nurses and the broader community will not sit quietly while hospital administration puts profits over patients. 

“I think I can speak on behalf of us all when I say you can suspend us, you can fire us, but you will not put out our flames,” she said. “You can retaliate against us and continue to lie to our community, but we are smart, and we all see that your actions do not match your words.”

Jesse Buck, a registered nurse at CMMC, called the decision to suspend and fire nurses “unprecedented” union-busting from the hospital, and clear retaliation for organizing. Buck and other speakers made it clear that the union’s next objective is getting the fired and suspended nurses reinstated.

“Now, having fought with you, we want to return the favor by fighting for you,” Buck said. “Our highest priority going forward is getting our nurses reinstated. We need you. Our community needs you. You deserve to be here, reaping the harvest of your hard work and sacrifice.”

A spokesperson for CMMC previously told the Lewiston Sun Journal that the disciplinary action was not because of union activity, but were due to violations of hospital policy, such as patient abandonment and disruption of care.

Ruth Fitzgerald, a registered nurse at CMMC, said the hospital wasn’t perfect before it was acquired by California-based Prime Healthcare Foundation last year. But the new leadership made the existing issues much worse. And that has consequences for patients, she said. 

“Every closed unit, that’s a patient who waits longer,” Fitzgerald said. “Every unsafe assignment, that’s a patient who gets less. Every missing linen cart, every eliminated roll — that is not a line item on Prime’s budget. However, in our community, that is someone’s mother, that is someone’s father and that is someone’s child.”

Many state legislators and local political candidates joined the crowd while organizations across the state voiced their support for the union efforts. 

Maine Democratic Party Executive Director Devon Murphy-Anderson congratulated the nurses on the vote in a statement Friday.

“At a time when Maine’s health care system is already under enormous strain, we should be supporting the nurses who keep our hospitals running and care for Mainers every day,” Murphy-Anderson said. “Protecting quality healthcare in Maine starts with listening to and respecting the people who provide it.”

Gov. Mills criticizes CMMC leadership after firings

The suspension and firings of CMMC nurses has drawn attention and criticism from around the state. 

In a letter to CMMC President Allen Stefanek Wednesday, Gov. Janet Mills said it is “unconscionable” that the hospital would fire or suspend nurses at a time when the state is in desperate need of healthcare workers. 

“While Prime Healthcare insists that no employee was disciplined because of union activity, taking this action amid a critical statewide nursing shortage — and just days before nurses are set to exercise their right to make their voices heard in a union election — raises serious questions about retaliation,” Mills said. 

Last year, Mills’ administration issued a Certificate of Need approving Prime Healthcare’s acquisition of CMMC. And after complaints of staff shortages and quality-of-care issues, the Maine Department of Health and Human Services began reviewing the hospital’s compliance with the certificate. 

These terminations and suspensions heighten concerns that the hospital is not meeting the certificate’s criteria, Mills said. She strongly urged the hospital to reinstate every nurse that has been “wrongfully” fired or suspended.

“Failure to do so will make clear to Maine people that Prime Healthcare is prioritizing corporate interests over the commitments it made to the State of Maine to deliver the quality healthcare which Maine people expect and deserve,” Mills said. 

U.S. Reps. Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) and Robin Kelly (D-Illinois) led a group of congressional Democrats in a letter to Prime Healthcare CEO Dr. Prem Reddy, to demand an end to the alleged intimidation and retaliation against nurses at hospitals around the country. 

In addition to the termination of nurses at CMMC, the lawmakers highlighted the firing of nurses at Prime Healthcare hospitals in Illinois and Nevada. U.S. Rep. Jared Golden was among the lawmakers that signed the letter. 

“Registered nurses at these Prime facilities are fighting to ensure they can provide the very best care to the communities they serve, including concerns about cuts to vital services that patients rely on,” the lawmakers wrote. 

The nurses at the Prime facility in Illinois, Olympia Fields Hospital, also voted overwhelmingly to unionize earlier this week.