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Business Travelers and Rodeo Fans Warned About Impending Health Care Crisis in Las Vegas, According to Service Employees International Union

Posted on: Sunday, 3 December 2006, 00:00 CST

Business travelers to Las Vegas and rodeo fans planning to attend the National Finals Rodeo are warned that an impending strike by nurses and technicians in Las Vegas may cause a medical crisis in that city starting Monday, Dec. 4, according to SEIU. The strike will begin at 6:00 AM.

"We want to make travelers aware that the strike could lead to extensive disruptions in medical services in the Las Vegas area," said Pat Cheney, an RN in the Cardiac Intermediate Medical Care unit at Desert Springs hospital.

The key issue in the dispute is the hospitals' refusal to improve nurse staffing levels to protect patients. The two hospitals involved, Desert Springs and Valley hospitals, are hundreds of nurses short and have refused to make the staffing improvements that other Las Vegas hospitals are already making.

The two hospitals, owned by Universal Health Services, provide one third of the hospital beds for the core area of Las Vegas, close to the convention centers and the major hotels along the strip.

Nurses and technicians voted to go on strike based on management's unfair treatment and their unwillingness to bargain in good faith on better hospital staffing.

Desert Springs and Valley hospitals perform nearly half of the open heart procedures and treat 27% of the emergency room patients in the Las Vegas core.

www.QualityCareNevada.org

Source: Business Wire

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