UPMC Magee nurse practitioners look to join colleagues in upcoming union vote

Dozens of advanced nurse practitioners at UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital will start voting on Saturday. 

A second union election at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) Magee-Womens Hospital starts on Saturday and runs through Tuesday, when roughly 60 advanced practitioners decide whether or not to join the Service Employees International Union Healthcare Pennsylvania (SEIU HCPA). 

This election comes on the heels of a historic victory for Magee nurses when nearly 1,000 voted last month to unionize with a 402 to 305 margin amid an anti-union campaign carried out by the hospital system.

It was the largest union election for Pennsylvania nurses and health care professionals in recent memory, and it marked the first time nurses were able to successfully unionize at a UPMC hospital.  

Now, their counterparts, which include certified nurse practitioners, neonatal nurses, and certified nurse midwives, are looking to join. 

“ I think I speak for all my nursing colleagues when I say that we entered the healthcare workforce driven by our values,” Ronnie Getz, a certified nurse midwife at Magee, told reporters at a press conference last month. 

“We are nurses because we want to care for people, but increasingly, we’re experiencing the impossible challenge of too many patients and not enough time. While we’re driven by our values,  the current healthcare industry is driven by profit, and it is wreaking havoc on our ability to provide the highest standard of care.”

UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital is responsible for delivering 10,000 babies per year, or roughly half of all babies born in Allegheny County, and Magee nurses are pushing for better working conditions and safer patient staffing ratios for more personalized care..

“Advanced practitioners have an opportunity to be part of this movement and unite with each other and our nurse colleagues,” Lucy Rose, a registered nurse practitioner at Magee for the past 10 years, said in a statement. 

“When you’re a medical professional in a giant corporate health system – whether you’re a physician, nurse or advanced practitioner – it’s impossible to enact meaningful change if you’re isolated and alone. But I know that united together, we can maintain what we love about Magee and work collaboratively to ensure the highest standards for our professions and the care we provide.”