Nurses at several New York City hospitals prepare to strike next week

Thousands of New York City nurses are poised to strike on Monday as they decry staffing levels they say create unsafe conditions for patients.

Five institutions, including units of the massive Mount Sinai Health System Inc., are still in talks toward a resolution with about 10,000 members of the New York State Nurses Association. Three others have reached tentative agreements.

The pandemic pushed already-existing staffing shortages to crisis levels, forcing hospitals to bring in temporary workers whose wages could swell to hundreds of dollars an hour. Hospitals say they’ve been slammed by the higher costs for labor and supplies, pointing to billions in losses, while nurses counter that they’ve paid their executives handsomely and under-invested in workers for years.

“Our bosses created the understaffing crisis by failing to hire and retain nurses,” union president Nancy Hagans said during a briefing Thursday. “It’s not just about compensation, it’s about caring for patients, it’s about safety.”

Mount Sinai Health System didn’t respond to requests for comment. Hospitals routinely make contingency plans for anything that could disrupt operations, Healthcare Association of New York State president Bea Grause said in an emailed statement.

“Hospitals statewide are facing severe workforce and fiscal crises, including an ongoing national workforce shortage,” Grause said.

NewYork-Presbyterian reached an agreement with 4,000 members Dec. 31, and the union arrived at tentative contracts on behalf of 1,300 workers at Brooklyn’s Maimonides Medical Center and with 550 at Richmond University Medical Center on Staten Island late Wednesday. Negotiations continue at BronxCare Health System, Flushing Hospital Medical Center, Montefiore Bronx, Mount Sinai Hospital and Mount Sinai Morningside and West.