Mass. officials to meet with nurses alleging safety violations at Tenet hospitals

Unionized nurses in Massachusetts are asking the state to deploy independent monitors at three hospitals run by Tenet Healthcare because of what they allege are safety violations.
Representatives from the Massachusetts Nurses Association expected to discuss their concerns Tuesday at a meeting with the state public health commissioner. The union has claimed, in several complaints filed with the state, that staffing and equipment shortages are jeopardizing patient care at the company’s three Massachusetts facilities.
“It’s a very dangerous situation on every floor, every day,” said David Schildmeier, a spokesman for the Massachusetts Nurses Association, which represents about 70% of unionized nurses in the state.
Tenet, a for-profit company based in Dallas, denied the union’s allegations. But union officials told WBUR they plan to press state officials for stronger oversight of Tenet, which they accused of implementing cost-cutting measures at the expense of patients.
“I hope the commissioner will listen to what the nurses are saying and will step in and do what they need to do to ensure that patients are cared for safely,” said Mary Sue Howlett, associate director of nursing for the union. “The state needs to make sure that there’s adequate staffing, the equipment is in there and functional and patients are well cared for.”
There is precedent for placing monitors inside Massachusetts hospitals. State officials took a similar step at facilities operated by Steward Health Care, another for-profit company, when its financial problems burst into public view. Steward later filed for bankruptcy.
Tenet operates more than 40 hospitals across the country. Its Massachusetts facilities include St. Vincent Hospital in Worcester, Framingham Union Hospital in Framingham and Leonard Morse Hospital in Natick. Framingham Union and Leonard Morse are known together as MetroWest Medical Center.
The Massachusetts Nurses Association has filed seven complaints with state health officials against Tenet facilities in the past year, as well as filing complaints with federal health care regulatory agencies.
The most recent complaint, filed last month with the state Department of Public Health, focused on St. Vincent Hospital. The union alleged that inadequate staffing in critical care units at the facility resulted in two patient deaths in September.

Both patients required dialysis treatment, but according to the complaint there weren’t enough nurses on duty to provide the highest level of care. One patient’s treatment was cut short and the other died before receiving dialysis treatment, the complaint said. Union leaders said they notified the state of their concerns about the deaths at the time.
The 18-page complaint also outlined dozens of other alleged instances when patient safety at Saint Vincent Hospital was put at risk. The union cited understaffing, a lack of communication, improperly sterilized hospital equipment, restrictions on nurses’ access to IV fluids and an increase in patients experiencing hospital-acquired pressure ulcers.
Nurses at St. Vincent said they are frustrated that multiple complaints have not prompted state officials to send in monitors, as they did for the former Steward hospitals.
“We can’t help but think that all of these complaints are just going down the drain, and nobody cares about them,” said Carla LeBlanc, who’s been a nurse at St. Vincent for eight years.
State health officials earlier confirmed investigations of Tenet medical centers in Massachusetts. Last week, a spokesperson for the Department of Public Health said in a statement that the state “takes all complaints seriously and is committed to ensuring that hospitals meet their obligations to provide safe, efficient, high-quality health care for all patients.”
“The Department has investigated prior complaints about Saint Vincent Hospital and conducted numerous onsite visits to assess their care,” the statement said.
In a written statement, a spokesperson for Tenet described the union’s complaints as a “publicity stunt,” and called on union members to collaborate with the hospital to address staffing challenges, citing a nationwide shortage of health care workers.
“The MNA’s accusations are disrespectful to the dedicated nurses, physicians and staff at Saint Vincent Hospital who prioritize caring for our patients,” Tenet spokesman Shawn Middleton said in the statement. “There is no doubt that these unfounded attacks are related to upcoming negotiations with the union at Saint Vincent, a tactic that the union uses in connection with contract negotiations with virtually all other systems across the state.”
Nurses at St. Vincent Hospital went on strike in 2021 during a contract dispute. When the strike finally ended nearly 10 months later, it had become the longest nurses strike in state history. The nurses’ current contract expires at the end of 2025.
The allegations against Tenet come as Massachusetts continues to deal with the fallout from the bankruptcy of Steward Health Care. Dallas-based Steward was one of the largest for-profit hospital operators in the nation and the third-largest in Massachusetts.
Two Steward hospitals in the state, Nashoba Valley Medical Center and Carney Hospital, closed because no credible buyers emerged to take them over. The closures sparked concerns about emergency response services and other health care disruptions for patients.
State officials were closely involved in negotiating sales of five other Steward hospitals to nonprofit operators and have poured millions of dollars into helping them stay open.
Unlike Steward, Tenet is a publicly traded company that recently reported strong finances. But Alan Sager, a professor at the Boston University School of Public Health said better state oversight is needed of health care.
“We’re spending a lot of money on health care and we’re not getting our money’s worth,” Sager said. “For-profit health care is one of the worst sectors where we just can’t trust them with our money, and state supervision has generally been weak.
The threat Steward’s financial woes posed to the state’s health care system inspired the recent passage of a law aimed at increasing state oversight of hospitals. Gov. Maura Healey is still reviewing that bill.
link