–photo courtesy of MedStar-
National Nurses United, union and professional association of registered nurses in the United States reported registered nurses at MedStar Franklin Square Medical Center in Rossville plan to hold a rally on Saturday, Sept. 19 at 8 a.m. at the public sidewalk at Franklin Square Dr. and Hospital Drive.
National Nurses United said the purpose of the rally is to highlight unaddressed patient safety concerns — including short-staffing and lack of equipment and supplies.
According to National Nurses United the rally was organized after the Franklin Square nurses filed a petition on Sept. 10 with the National Labor Relations Board to hold union elections.
That election has not been scheduled yet.
“We are compelled to form a union because we see deteriorating conditions in our hospital,” said Katie Stancil-Ervin, RN in the emergency department said in a statement.
“In the ER we are seeing patients held for hours without being admitted because there are not enough nurses in the units. We are seeing intensive care unit nurses taking care of three patients at a time, when they should have no more than two patients. We have broken equipment in the operating room that delays care. These chronic problems must be dealt with and MedStar has not been willing to do that. That is why we need a strong union contract to address these patient safety issues.”
National Nurses United said nurses note the poor staffing by MedStar Health landed Medstar Franklin Square on a list of the longest ER visits in the country for 2025.
According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) the national average for an ER visit is 162 minutes, but at MedStar Franklin the visits were 367 minutes.