The three-day nurses’ strike will begin on Monday morning at 02:21
“I feel disappointed,” said Methodist Hospital nurse Victoria Zeehandelaar.
Victoria Zeehandelaar plans to picket outside her workplace on Monday with her colleagues. Sixteen hospitals in seven health care systems will be affected by the strike.
Paul Omodt, a spokesman for the Twin Cities Hospital group, which includes Children’s Minnesota, North Memorial Health, Fairview Health and Park Nicollet Methodist Hospital, said thousands of nurses from across the country will work during the strike to keep hospitals open and to operate. as close to normal as possible.
“We’re starting with new people who have and will be trained, we should expect some delays in our hospitals, we should expect some hiccups because that’s just the nature of the business every day,” Omodt said.
Allina Health said patients will be notified directly if their appointments change during the strike.
“While we are making every effort to minimize disruption to patient care, our hospitals continue to be full and we are preparing to make the necessary adjustments to ensure we are meeting the urgent and ongoing healthcare needs of the community,” a spokesperson said.
The Minnesota Nurses Association and hospitals are at odds over a range of issues, from wages, staffing and safety.
“What they’re asking for, the wage increases, is not something hospitals can afford,” Omodt said.
Zeehandelaar said finances are not the main issue.
“We’re not striking over our wages, we’re striking because we want to make sure our patients get the best quality care they can and the foundation of that is the right level of staffing,” he said.
Nurses from various health systems will go on strike at 7am on Monday. They will picket outside the hospitals until the evening throughout the strike.
Minnesota Nurses Association President Mary Turner spoke to WCCO Sunday morning.
