Nurses at Wichita hospital, among state’s largest, to unionize after secret ballot vote

Registered nurses at Ascension Via Christi St. Francis Hospital in Wichita overwhelmingly voted to unionize during a secret ballot election held Wednesday and Thursday.

The vote came in at 378 to 194 in favor of joining the National Nurses Organizing Commission, an affiliate of the country’s largest registered nurses union, National Nurses United, a news release from the organizations said.

“It’s a historic day for the Wichita nurses and our community,” Angela Cammarn, a registered nurse in St. Francis Hospital’s cardiac critical care unit, said in a statement included in the release.

“We are joining a strong community of union nurses in Kansas and across the United States. As nurses, we are committed to providing excellent care to our patients. NNOC/NNU nurses have a track record of fighting for safer conditions so they can provide safe care to their communities. We plan on doing the same here!”

Ascension Kansas market ministry executive and senior vice president Kevin Strecker expressed disappointment in the outcome of the vote, saying in a written statement that Ascension officials “strongly believe we can be most effective working collaboratively without union representation.”

But, he said: “We respect the voting process and are committed to ensuring it is followed during the vote certification period.”

Of the more than 570 nurses who cast ballots, 66% voted to unionize. The election was conducted by the National Labor Relations Board.

The union will represent more than 650 registered nurses at the Wichita hospital, owned by Ascension, one of the country’s largest not-for-profit and Catholic hospital chains, operating in 19 states and the District of Columbia.

In Kansas, Ascension Via Christi runs seven hospitals and 75 other care sites and has nearly 6,400 employees.

The registered nurses sought to unionize to “more effectively advocate for improved conditions in the workplace and better economic standards for their colleagues and their families,” according to the news release from the unions.

“This, say nurses, is how to keep experienced RNs at the bedside and recruit nurses at a time of growing national concern about the willingness of RNs to work under morally distressing and injurious conditions,” the unions said.

Angela de Souza, a registered nurse in the hospital’s post-anesthesia care unit, said nurses look forward to bargaining with management.

Winning union representation “is just the beginning,” she said in a prepared statement.

“Safer staffing, workplace violence prevention, and local nurse retention will be at the forefront of our campaign. As union nurses, we will fight for a first contract that will protect both our patients and staff.”