Houlton Hospital Nurses Strike for Safe Staffing and Retention Improvements

Nurses at Houlton Regional Hospital Initiate Strike Over Staffing and Patient Safety Concerns

Nurses at Houlton Regional Hospital (HRH) in Houlton, Maine, are set to begin a two-day strike on November 18 and 19. The action is in response to hospital management's reluctance to address staffing issues and improve conditions for patient safety, particularly focusing on the retention of nursing staff. The nurses are organized under the Maine State Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee (MSNA/NNOC).

"Short staffing remains a critical challenge within our hospital," stated Brooke Howland, RN, who works in the Acute Care Unit. "The emergency department, operating room, and acute care units are the foundation of patient care in our community. Each of these departments must be adequately staffed to ensure the delivery of safe, high-quality care. Too often, additional patients are assigned to the acute care unit without the necessary increase in staffing. As patient conditions grow more complex, the need for skilled nursing support increases — without it, both patient safety and quality of care are compromised."

Tenille Nason, RN, from the emergency department, noted, "The emergency department is asking for one additional shift per week so that three RNs are present at all times to deal with our patients’ needs. The hospital had agreed tentatively to add this position prior to Jeff Zewe taking over as CEO. But the hospital has reneged on that agreement and now wants to be able to reduce ED staffing."

Who: Registered nurses at Houlton Regional Hospital
What: Two-day strike for patient safety and a fair contract
When: Tuesday, Nov. 18, 6:45 a.m. to Thursday, Nov. 20, 6:44 a.m.
RNs picketing: 6:45-9:15 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. each day
Where: Houlton Regional Hospital, 20 Hartford St., Houlton

Despite recognizing that HRH nurses receive among the lowest pay in the county, the hospital's CEO has not taken steps to address the effects on staff retention and patient care. Research indicates that when nurses are overburdened with too many patients, the likelihood of preventable medical errors, avoidable complications, falls and injuries, pressure sores, longer hospital stays, increased readmissions, and deaths rise.

Following the sudden closure of the community's labor, delivery, recovery, and postpartum department in May, some births have occurred in the emergency department. After delivery, patients must be stabilized before being transferred to hospitals equipped for such care.

"We need safe staffing. The reason we do not have a contract is that the hospital has proposed 'operational flexibility' at the bargaining table," explained Erin Mitchell, RN, from the emergency department. "The truth is that the hospital can increase staffing at any time to meet patient needs, but the only flexibility the hospital wants is the ability to reduce staffing. This is why we are striking."

The nurses provided strike notice on November 7. In September, they voted overwhelmingly to authorize the bargaining team to initiate a strike. HRH nurses have been negotiating for over a year for a new contract since the previous agreement expired on November 30, 2024.

MSNA/NNOC represents 55 nurses at Houlton Regional Hospital.

Maine State Nurses Association is part of the National Nurses Organizing Committee, representing 4,000 nurses and other caregivers from Portland to Fort Kent. NNOC is an affiliate of the National Nurses United, the largest and fastest-growing labor union of registered nurses in the United States with nearly 225,000 members nationwide.

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