CVPH nurses complained about staffing shortages in may. That issue led to fines at Albany Medical Center.
Albany Medical Center has received a record-breaking $375,000 fine from the New York State Health Department, less than a year after a Health Department report found around 500 violations of the state’s safe staffing law. The fine and violations are the largest issued to any state hospital to date. Cheryl Ryan, a registered nurse at Albany Medical Center, said nurses cannot perform their jobs properly because of short staffing. "They’re not able to sit with patients, ask them questions, give more thorough care that they plan to do, which is what we want to do as nurses," Ryan outlined. "This is why the safe staffing law was passed, because this isn’t the way nursing is supposed to be. You know, we need a change." However, Albany Medical Center is not the only hospital found to fall short in staffing nurses. A New York State Nurses report finds hospitals statewide failed to staff intensive care units and critical patients at state mandated ratios at least half the time for most of 2024. And simply hiring and retaining more nurses will not be a quick fix. Reports show New York hospital’s labor costs grew 36% since 2019, despite declining last year. While Albany Medical Center implemented corrective action plans, the Health Department report noted they did not resolve staffing issues or consider nurses’ input. Jaime Alexanian, another registered nurse at Albany Medical Center, feels staffing has been a challenge since more focus is being put on the hospital’s bottom line. "A lot of big hospitals are being run like a corporation, like a big business," Alexanian observed. "If you have less people that you’re paying to do a job, than the business profits more, I guess. As far as I can tell that seems to be the biggest reason is to do more with less." She added overworked nurses mean patients are not as safe in hospitals as they should be. Nurses at Albany Medical Center have been working without a contract for almost a year, with staffing being a primary issue holding up negotiations.
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