KALAMAZOO, MI (WKZO AM/FM) — Kalamazoo nurses working for Ascension Borgess are raising concerns over possible job reassignments to the Detroit area, which is one of the most highly-affected zones of the COVID-19 outbreak.
According to the MI Nurses Association, Ascension Borgess Hospital notified employees that “mandatory reassignments will begin immediately and continue until the (state and national) States of Emergency are lifted.”
Official representatives of nurses are now speaking out.
“Although nurses want to help wherever we’re needed, it’s unreasonable to force us to uproot our lives, especially when many of us are single parents,” said Jamie Brown, RN, a critical care nurse at Borgess and president of the Borgess Staff Nurse Council. “We also have no guarantees of proper equipment like N95 masks to protect ourselves from this deadly disease wherever they send us.”
These reassignments are said to be voluntary and come with an additional $2 per hour, plus compensation for lodging and expenses. However, Brown says many nurses are reporting being identified as targets for mandatory reassignment.
“We are willing to talk about a meaningful incentive program for nurses who volunteer,” Brown said. “That’s what should have happened – Ascension should be working with us. No one wants to be forced to leave their home and family like this. We want to be partners, not pawns.”
Meanwhile, WXYZ reports that nurses at Sinai Grace Hospital in Detroit were recently sent home after staging a sit-in protest over working conditions. Brown issued a statement on the matter following the announcement.
“Nurses around the state are desperately doing everything we can to keep our patients and ourselves safe,” Brown said. “Eventually, a tipping point is reached where the best thing any RN can do for their patients, their families, and their coworkers is to speak out rather than remain silent. Until hospitals start taking the concerns of nurses seriously, it’s only a matter of time before more actions like these occur. It is absolutely essential that hospitals start working with nurses and stop silencing our voices.”
Following each of these statements, MLive reports that Ascension Borgess has released the following update:
“As our hospitals in southeast Michigan have been experiencing a surge in COVID-19 related cases, associates from across Ascension Michigan have been readily volunteering to assist their fellow caregivers as we deal with this pandemic. Compensation, housing and expenses are provided for during any relocation. Ascension Michigan has not implemented any mandatory reassignments to southeast Michigan, but as we continue to navigate providing care during this global pandemic, emergency response plans are in place for ensuring we have the resources required to provide care to all who need it.”
