Nurses at Western Psychiatric Hospital, the region’s largest behavioral health provider, are prepared to go on strike amid contract negotiations with UPMC.
The hospital’s 115 nurses voted unanimously on Monday to authorize a strike, according to a press release from SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania, the union that represents workers at Western Psych. The two sides have been bargaining since August.
Western Psych treats patients ranging from children to seniors with diagnoses including schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s, eating disorders, substance use disorders, anxiety, depression and autism.
The union said nurses are “increasingly alarmed” after UPMC closed several beds at the Oakland hospital due to understaffing. The union claims there has been a more than a 100% turnover rate at Western Psych over the last three years.
“The closed beds, severe understaffing and turnover caused by UPMC’s policies have undermined Western Psych’s ability to handle the growing mental health and substance abuse crisis in the region,” SEIU Healthcare said in a statement.
According to nurses at the hospital, ongoing bed closures have meant reduced services for patients and long waitlists.
“We can’t admit a lot of the patients seeking care and so they have to wait months for backlogged outpatient appointments,” said Zachariah Flynn, a nurse in Western Psych’s Center for Autism and Developmental Disorders unit. “When I first started, we had 28 beds in our unit, with one wing serving children, one wing serving adolescents and another wing serving adults. Now, UPMC has completely shut down the units for kids and adolescents due to understaffing and we’re reduced to only 11 beds.”
State data shows that about a third of Pennsylvanian adults have a mental illness or substance use disorder, which is higher than the national average. And Pennsylvania’s health care workforce shortage is among the worst in the nation, according to the Hospital Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania. The organization found that in 2022, hospitals across Pennsylvania had an average vacancy rate of 19% for nursing support staff, 14% for registered nurses, and 10% for most direct care positions.
Dr. Kenneth Thompson, a psychiatrist based in Pittsburgh, called the shortage an “all-out, national mental health emergency.”
“We were in deep trouble before the pandemic and it’s even worse now,” Thompson said. “We must have all hands on deck to meet the needs and address the suffering in our communities… and UPMC’s lack of investment has seriously curtailed Western Psych’s capacity to face this crisis.”
Nurses first sounded the alarm about a staffing shortage at Western Psych last month. At a rally, dozens of workers turned out to call on UPMC to increase wages and improve staff-to-patient ratios.
On Wednesday, the union said that UPMC has rejected “many of” their proposals including higher minimum staffing levels, higher wages for entry-level nurses and incentives for experienced nurses aimed at retaining them.
In a statement, UPMC said despite the threat of a strike, the company and the union’s talks are “ongoing,” and that UPMC is committed to “bargain in good faith.”
“UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital is committed to supporting our employees, patients and community,” the statement said.
A strike date has not yet been set. Nurses plan to hold a “Rally for Mental Healthcare” next week.
