Union employees pushed for changes at Chicago’s Northwestern Memorial Hospital on Monday, saying emergency room wait times are too long and more staff is needed.
The Service Employees International Union claimed the hospital’s wait times are the worst in the state, and the reason is staffing.
“We are being short-staffed. We are not being staffed. We are doing two, three, four people’s jobs, and it’s just overwhelming us,” SEIU member April McNiel said.
The hospital said it is working to reduce wait times, but that it is important to remember the allegations come amid contract negotiations with Northwestern Medicine.
The union staged a rally outside the emergency room, one week ahead of a Jan. 13 hearing with the Illinois Health Facilities and Services Review Board. Northwestern Medicine is seeking approval to expand the number of rooms and beds available for patient care in Galter Pavilion by relocating administrative offices elsewhere.
That, the hospital said, should help alleviate wait times in the emergency room.
“You want the rooms, but do you have the staff to assist you?” McNiel said. “The rooms are good. That’s a good idea, let’s get more rooms…let’s expand the ER. But do you have the staff to help and assist?”
According to the website hospitalstats.org, ER wait times at Chicago hospitals can be long, ranging from just under three hours at Loretto Hospital to almost five hours at Stroger Hospital and the University of Chicago Medical Center. At UIC Hospitals and Clinics and Northwestern Memorial Hospital, wait times can exceed five and a half hours, the website revealed.
In a statement, Northwestern Medicine said, “We appreciate our SEIU-represented employees and the important contributions they make every day. We remain committed to bargaining in good faith. In recognition of these confidential negotiations, we are declining to comment further at this time.”
The union’s vice president insisted the current strategy is not working.
“What have they done about the care crisis in their own ER?” said Anne Igoe, vice president of hospital at SEIU Illinois. “They have focused on expectation management for folks letting them know in arrival it is going to be five or six hours for patient care, basically telling folks “expect to wait a long time.'”
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