June 24, 2021 – About 900 nurses at Cook County Health initiated a one-day strike today over staffing issues. Their last contract expired in November.
The nurses work at Stroger and Provident hospitals, the system’s clinics, and Cermak Health Services, which provides health care to the detainees at the Cook County Department of Corrections.
Cook County Health said in a statement Wednesday that it planned to use temporary agency nurses to fill in gaps Thursday in certain areas, including trauma and emergency departments, operating rooms and units for patients hospitalized overnight. The system also postponed some elective and non-urgent procedures and appointments and moved other appointments to telehealth.
The nurses union, National Nurses Organizing Committee/National Nurses United, says a major sticking point in negotiations has been staffing. The union says the hospital system is short hundreds of nurses, which has led to delays in patient care and burnout among nurses.
The health system, however, has said it is continually recruiting nurses and hired nearly 800 in the past year. The nurses say that Cook County Health isn’t hiring enough nurses or doing a good job retaining them.
As of Thursday morning, a separate strike by members of the Service Employees International Union Local 73 was planned to begin Friday.