Barton nurses take to the picket lines to alert community on issues

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - It was well below freezing but spirits warmed the air as car after car honked at the dozens of Barton Health nurses, both current and retired, picketing on both sides of Highway 50 on 3rd Street in South Lake Tahoe.

"We've had amazing support from the community," said emergency room nurse Ronnie Navarro, an 11-year employee of the hospital. That community included other local unions including the police and fire departments.

The nurses voted to unionize in November of 2017 and have since been organizing and negotiating with Barton Health, something they said has been progressing but has them far apart on three major issues.

"Barton is stalling on some key points that are critical to any contract," said Beth Dameral, a nurse at Barton for 22 years.

Nararro, Dameral and Kelli Teteak are the three nurses from Barton Health who have been at the bargaining table with Barton along with two representatives from the California Nurses Association.

Dameral said they've been meeting with the hospital since March 2018 and wanted to make the community more aware of their concerns.

The three nurses said their focus going into the next phase of negotiations is focused on three points:

1. A fair and equitable health care plan. They said many nurses cannot afford to pay for the health insurance and end up in collections due to the high cost of care.

2. Stronger staffing standards so they can provide safe and affective care. They want the hospital to meet the California standards for nurse-patient at all times, even when nurses are on breaks. This isn't always the case at Barton.

3. Pushing for nurses on the Nevada side that work for Barton to have the same safety standards as their partners on the California side of Lake Tahoe.

Dameral said that they are still far apart with Barton on major issues, and negotiators are trying to end up with a deal that helps the hospital retain and attract nurses.

"We're tired of the high turnover of nurses and want better health care so we can attract the best and brightest," the group said.

"Barton Health believes that we have made steady progress toward reaching our first-ever agreement with the union," said Barton's Director of Public Relations Mindi Befu. "First-time contracts typically take well over a year to finalize given the importance of the agreements being in place for years to come."

Befu said the two sides have met 21 times and have reached 26 tentative agreements on the contract so far and that negotiations are continuing, including two meetings this week.

On the three areas the nurses find as their major focus, Barton replied with the following:

1. Barton Health offers a rich medical benefits package including three health benefit plans to choose from, where employees can pay as little as $20-60 per pay period for medical healthcare coverage depending on the size of their family. Two of the three plans include low-cost co-pays for Barton Health services. These co-pays are in lieu of meeting the $750 or $2,500 deductible. Examples of these co-pays include:

$25 copay for Urgent Care services (per visit)
$25 copay for Physical Therapy (per visit)
$250 copay for MRI

Befu said Barton Health and the California Nurses’ Association (CNA) agreed that the health insurance proposal will be considered in connection with other economic proposals to be discussed later in negotiations.

2. Barton Health complies with California law regarding RN-to-patient ratios. And in fact we typically exceed what is granted to rural hospitals. In 2017, Barton Health requested to remove the rural ratio waiver from the state to increase its required staff ratio back to 1 nurse for every 5 patients (previously it was 1 to 6). Once approved, we began recruiting additional RNs to reach the 1:5 ratio. Barton ultimately hired 6 new, full-time RNs: 3 for the float pool plus 3 on our Med/Surg/Ortho floor. We are close to agreement on proposals that codify workplace safety for nurses, similar to policies we have in place for all staff. This would apply to all nurses regardless of their worksite.

3. We are close to agreement on proposals that codify workplace safety for nurses, similar to policies we have in place for all staff. This would apply to all nurses regardless of their worksite.

During one of South Lake Tahoe Mayor Wendy David's monthly meetings, a group of two dozen nurses showed up to alert the mayor and others about their efforts with Barton to come up with a good contract. At that time they expressed their frustration at a lack of a contract. The local nurse's association also teamed up with the police and fire departments to present the first-ever candidates safety forum prior to the November 6 election.

During the protest on Monday, all nurses on the corners were off-duty (or retired) and the hospital was staffed as normal.