The heads of three healthcare unions sent a letter to the state Department of Public Health, claiming portions of Windham Hospital are closed and implying that nurses are being punished for going on strike.
More than 22% of nursing positions in Kentucky hospitals remain unfilled, according to the Kentucky Hospital Association.
On Thursday, the group presented the results of its 2022 Workforce Survey. The numbers submitted by hospitals across Kentucky point to one thing: a serious staffing shortage.
University of Iowa Health Care leaders have notified employees that nurses in the coming weeks will face "some of the most challenging" staffing to date, warning that nurses in some units at times will have to take on five patients at once.
Some UIHC nurses report the "increase in nurse-patient ratios" is out of line, and they've coordinated a protest over it outside the hospital for Thursday.
A former nurse at MercyOne Siouxland Medical Center is suing the hospital and its parent company for wrongful termination.
Cynthia Tener, the plaintiff in the case, alleges a cardiothoracic surgeon at the hospital covered up his true mortality rate, keeping it artificially low. Tener says she was fired after she reported those concerns.