Nurses union says Kings County Hospital suspended a union leader for raising staffing concerns

The New York State Nurses Association is fighting the unpaid suspension of a union leader at Kings County Hospital Center, the city-run hospital in central Brooklyn, saying she was punished for raising concerns about understaffing, The City Reporter and amNY reported.

What happened

NYC Health + Hospitals suspended Sarah Dowd, a neurocritical care ICU nurse practitioner and vice president of the hospital's local bargaining unit, over what it called an "alleged act of misconduct" on Oct. 6, The City Reporter said. An Oct. 9 letter from the system's labor relations director also barred her from H+H facilities except as a patient.

The letter gave no details, but records filed in the union's challenge show H+H alleges Dowd improperly pulled nurses from their duties to talk about union matters, according to The City Reporter. Dowd says she was off the clock that day and was "rounding" on a medical-surgical unit as a union official, following up on reports that nurses were being floated between units to cover shortages. She called the claim that she took nurses away from patients "categorically false."

H+H declined to discuss the case. "We value our nurses and want to ensure they can focus on patient care while working," a spokesperson told The City Reporter.

The union's response

NYSNA held a rally outside the hospital on Thursday and filed a complaint with the state Public Employment Relations Board, accusing H+H of retaliating against Dowd for union activity. A petition for her reinstatement with back pay has nearly 1,000 signatures from nurses, other staff and physicians, amNY reported.

Emergency department nurse Jack McShane told the rally that nurses often care for eight or nine patients, sometimes as many as 12 or 13, despite a five-patient limit in their contract and state law, according to amNY. State Sen. Jabari Brisport joined the rally and called on management to fix staffing ratios and reinstate Dowd.

Nurse staffing ratios were a central issue in the strike by about 15,000 nurses at three private hospital systems in New York last winter, The City Reporter noted. Kings County Hospital Center serves communities around central Brooklyn.