After a one-day strike aimed at highlighting staffing and patient safety concerns, Kapiolani Medical Center for Women & Children in Honolulu has initiated a lockout against approximately 600 nurses. Despite the strike concluding Saturday morning, nurses returning to work were barred from entering the hospital. In a letter cited by Hawaii News Now, hospital CEO David Underriner indicated the lockout would persist unless the Hawaii Nurses' Association (HNA) accepts the current deal proposed by the hospital.
The union has been vocal about their grievances, particularly the hospital's alleged retaliatory actions against nurses for voicing out concerns about staffing levels. The hospital, however, views the lockout not as retaliation, but as a legal resolution tool for ongoing labor disputes. According to Hawaii News Now, Kapiolani COO Gidget Ruscetta stated that the lockout was meant to provide "excellent, safe care" and was not a consequence of the strike. The lockout also comes with significant ramifications for the nurses, as starting October 1, they will no longer be eligible for medical and dental benefits through the hospital.
On the other side of the dispute, nurses assert that the issue extends beyond compensation, pointing to the need for safe nurse-to-patient ratios and better staffing levels to prevent burnout and ensure patient safety. The hospital's proposal includes salaries ranging from $133,000 to $160,000 for a three-day workweek by the third contract year. This offer has been made amidst contentious talks over nurse-to-patient ratios that have been unresolved since negotiations began nearly a year ago. According to a news release by the HNA president Rosalee Agas-Yuu, quoted by The Star-Advertiser, the hospital's leadership chose to lock out nurses for "advocating for safe staffing standards to improve patient care."
The impasse continues as hospital management insists on a staffing matrix that adjusts to patient needs, rather than fixed nurse-to-patient ratios. Ruscetta expressed disappointment in the strike and reiterated the hospital's commitment to providing care without disruption by employing temporary nurses during the lockout, as reported by The Star-Advertiser. In the meantime, the nurses, who walked up to the hospital entrance only to be met with the realization that their badges would not grant them entry, held a demonstration labeled as a protest against the "Illegal Lockout."
