The three-month strike at Butler Hospital that forced the closure of roughly half of the psychiatric hospital’s beds ended as workers voted “overwhelmingly” on Monday to ratify a new contract. Butler Hospital and the Service Employees International Union 1199 New England announced the settlement Monday night in a joint statement. “This contract ends the strike […]
Butler Hospital
Posted inEconomy, Health, Local
Butler Hospital and striking union reach a ‘tentative agreement’
Butler Hospital and the union representing more than 700 nurses, mental health workers, dietary and maintenance staff announced Monday that they have reached a tentative agreement to end the three-month long strike. “On behalf of both Butler Hospital and members of the bargaining committee representing all job classifications of the hospital, we are pleased to […]
Posted inHealth, Local
Butler Hospital’s striking workers, management to return to the bargaining table
Butler Hospital’s striking workers and management are scheduled to resume talks with a federal mediator on Wednesday, marking the first formal negotiations since the union last week rejected the hospital’s “revised last, best, and final’’ offer. Roughly 700 unionized workers at the psychiatric hospital on Providence’s East Side have been on strike since mid-May. The […]
Posted inHealth, Local
Butler Hospital’s president on the ongoing strike: ‘I have a responsibility to the future of the hospital’
Roughly 800 unionized workers at Butler Hospital entered the twelfth week of a strike on Thursday. They are striking over wages, benefits and workplace safety at the psychiatric hospital on Providence’s East Side. The hospital’s President and Chief Operating Officer Mary Marran spoke with Lynn Arditi, health reporter at The Public’s Radio, about the strike’s […]
Posted inHealth, Labor, Local
Staffing shortages, rise in workplace violence fueling strike at Butler Hospital
Andrew Kimball-Mirzaie had been working at Butler Hospital less than two months when he was attacked by a patient. At 30, Kimball-Mirzaie has the athletic build of someone who looks like he could defend himself if he had to. But he had no reason to think he might be in danger one afternoon in February […]
Posted inHealth, Labor, Local
Butler Hospital forced to close some psych units as strike grinds on
Two psychiatric units at Butler Hospital have temporarily closed as the strike at Rhode Island’s largest mental health facility grinds on, forcing patients to seek care in emergency rooms that struggle to provide the treatment they need. The hospital’s chief operating officer, Mary E. Marran, said the two-month strike has forced Butler to close about […]
Posted inHealth, Local
Rhode Island regulators find ‘deficiencies’ at Butler Hospital
State regulators said Butler Hospital failed to protect patients’ right to receive care in a safe setting when the psychiatric hospital on Providence’s East Side allowed an unlicensed medical assistant to insert an intravenous catheter into three patients. Rhode Island requires that insertion of an IV catheter only be done by a registered nurse. The […]
Posted inArts And Culture, Labor, The Weekly Catch, Weather
The latest on the Butler Hospital strike, preparing for hurricane season, and more
Butler Hospital announced plans this week to replace the roughly 800 unionized workers that have been striking for the past few weeks. We’ll hear about how we got here, and why it might not be so easy to fill those roles. Also, it’s hurricane season. Although New England rarely takes a direct hit, emergency officials want residents to remember the basics needed to get through a storm. We’ll share some of those tips. And we give you a preview of the summer festival season – starting with this weekend’s Providence Porchfest. Plus, Ian Donnis takes a look back on the week in Rhode Island politics.
Posted inHealth, Labor, Local
Butler Hospital could struggle to hire permanent replacements for striking nurses and other health care workers
Butler Hospital has raised the stakes in its standoff with unionized employees, announcing plans to hire permanent replacements for about 800 workers in their third week of a strike. But filling all those open positions with permanent hires at the psychiatric hospital on Providence’s East Side will be tough, labor experts said, given hospital staffing […]
Posted inHealth, Labor, Local
Butler Hospital’s striking workers and management resume talks with federal mediators
Editor’s note: This story was updated Thursday, May 29, with the latest information. Butler Hospital and union negotiators are scheduled to return to the bargaining table with federal mediators Thursday as the two sides try to end a strike at the psychiatric hospital that has stretched into its second week. Union officials said that after […]
