According to the state nurse’s association, Nuvance Health has to cut 14 nursing jobs and plans to eliminate seven each from the ambulatory surgery and IV teams. This will cut the IV team in half and completely eliminate the ASC team, the union said.
The ambulatory surgery jobs are expected to be cut Oct. 1, followed by the IV jobs on Oct. 14.
“Closing the ambulatory surgery center and decimating the IV team will be dire for patient care,” Margaret Franks, RN, a nurse at the hospital, told the Times Union. “I rely heavily upon the experience and skill set of the IV team to ensure my patients get the IV medications they need in a timely manner.”
While the nurses are calling the position eliminations “layoffs,” a spokesperson for the system said there will be no workforce reduction involved.
“The 14 nurses are remaining employed by Vassar Brothers Medical Center and transferring to different positions within the hospital. When this is complete, we will continue to have the same number of nurses and will continue to recruit into existing vacancies with the goal of having even more nurses,” the system told the Times Union.
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