Fifteen months after a contested union election, nurses at Lee's Summit Medical Center will again have a chance to vote on the matter. The National Labor Relations Board in Washington agreed with the federal agency's regional office that the hospital management unduly influenced the outcome of the last election, held in October 2009. Lee's Summit nurses at that time voted 68-59 to decertify the union, which had represented them since 2000. Thus, an election will be held again Jan. 27 and 28, according to Dan Hubbel, regional director of the NLRB's Overland Park office. About 130 Lee's Summit nurses are eligible to vote. Essentially, the NLRB in Washington backed the findings of the regional hearing officer last year that management used illegal tactics that led to the union's ouster. Lee's Summit Medical, owned by HCA Midwest, reiterated that it does not believe having a union is in the best interest of the hospital or the nurses.
