PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Nurses voted to unionize by about a 2-1 margin at Roger Williams Medical Center in Providence, union organizers said.
The wide margin of victory illustrates the nurses’ “deep dissatisfaction” with management, said Lynn Blais, president of the United Nurses and Allied Professionals.
The Boston Globe reported Tuesday that around 220 nurses at Roger Williams will join UNAP, union spokesperson Brad Dufault said. UNAP is the largest health care union in the state, and represents around 7,000 health care workers across Rhode Island, Connecticut and Vermont.
Roger Williams Medical Center is operated by CharterCARE, which also runs Our Lady of Fatima Hospital in North Providence. The company is owned and managed by Los Angeles-based Prospect Medical Holdings.
Otis Brown, a CharterCARE spokesperson, told the newspaper that the hospital will “negotiate a fair and equitable contract for employees and our hospital,” adding “We look forward to positive collaboration with the nurses’ new union.”
According to Blais, the two for-profit hospitals are for sale. Brown has not responded in weeks to requests by the Globe for comment on a potential sale.
