Windham Hospital

Taking Action to Resolve Windham’s Patient Care Crisis

Fri, 09/16/2022 - 2:30pm
Caregivers in the state's "Quiet Corner" are joining the growing chorus of their colleagues across the nation calling strikes when provoked by heartless health chains. Local AFT Connecticut-affiliated union leaders in a joint commentary explained how members reached this difficult decision. Windham Federation of Professional Nurses President Andrea Riley, RN, (left photo, below) and Windham Community Memorial Hospital (WCMH) Employees United President Heather Howlett, CA (right photo) collectively urged support from "all who share our concerns:"
 

Preserving a Community’s Vital Health Services

Mon, 08/22/2022 - 5:30pm
Members of AFT Connecticut-affiliated local unions representing health professionals employed by Hartford HealthCare (HHC) are resisting attempts to gut their patients' obstetric services. In a recent opinion piece, Natchaug Hospital Unions United Vice President and community coalition leader Brenda Buchbinder (at microphone, in photo below) called out the chain's neglect, urging executives make "maternity services safe and local once more."
 

Braving the Elements to Lock In "What Matters Most"

Wed, 09/30/2020 - 5:30pm
The ongoing COVID-19 (novel coronavirus) crisis meant that the majority of local unions' collective bargaining efforts over the summer focused on negotiating narrow pandemic-related agreements. Despite the unprecedented challenges, leaders of half a dozen AFT Connecticut affiliates successfully concluded efforts to ratify full successor contracts. We're featuring one that stood out because members not only overcame the virus, but also faced down a hurricane.
 

"Securing Our Wins" Before the Pandemic Hit

Fri, 07/17/2020 - 5:30pm
Local unions' collective bargaining efforts immediately following the declaration of the COVID-19 (novel coronavirus) crisis as a public health emergency focused on the pandemic's impact. At the same time, final action on several negotiated agreements before Connecticut residents were urged to "stay safe and stay home” was delayed. We're highlighting two such examples of new contracts finally in force but which at the peak of the crisis faced uncertain outcomes.
 

Windham Hospital Caregivers Protect Community Access to Vital Services

Mon, 01/30/2017 - 1:30pm
Nurses, technicians and healthcare workers at Windham Memorial Community Hospital (WCMH) last Thursday approved a mediated settlement for new three-year contracts with their employer following nine months of negotiations. Members of two AFT Connecticut-affiliated local unions ratified collective bargaining agreements covering economic and working conditions for approximately 350 caregivers at the 130-bed facility owned by Hartford HealthCare (HHC).
 

Where the Front Line Meets the Bottom Line

Fri, 04/29/2016 - 3:30pm
Hundreds of nurses and health professionals last week gathered in Washington, D.C. to raise their voices on the issues affecting frontline caregivers and their patients. They came to the nation's capitol for AFT's annual Professional Issues Conference (PIC) and Labor Academy for hospital and healthcare workers. More than 30 members of AFT Connecticut-affiliated unions were among the attendees for this year's event, organized under the theme "Where the Front Line Meets the Bottom Line."
 

Advocates, Leaders Call for Greater Scrutiny of Windham Hospital Service Changes

Wed, 10/21/2015 - 3:30pm
Hartford - Community leaders and Windham Hospital staff yesterday delivered approximately 3,000 names of residents opposing planned changes for the facility to the state's Office of Health Care Access (OCHA). The legislators, caregivers, and advocates on behalf of a coalition formed to save vital services threatened by Hartford HealthCare (HHC) hand-delivered individual cards to a Department of Public Health (DPH) representative. Each included a name on a petition launched in July by the unions representing Windham Hospital's caregiver workforce urging HHC leadership to drop planned service cuts for the facility.
 

Comments on Hospital Executives and Lobbyists' Call for Special Legislative Session

Tue, 09/22/2015 - 3:00pm
John Brady, RN, executive vice-president of AFT Connecticut, made the following remarks in response to comments by health network officials at today’s Republican legislative leaders' Capitol news briefing:
 

Caregivers to Offer "Better Choices than Proposed Shutdowns" at Windham Hospital

Fri, 07/24/2015 - 10:00am
Willimantic - Nurses, technicians and healthcare workers at Windham Hospital are responding to management's agreement to enter formal talks over planned patient care and hospital staff reductions at the acute care facility. Wednesday's announcement followed three weeks of community engagement efforts led by caregivers and the region's legislative delegation designed to save services slated for closure by the hospital's non-profit owners.
 
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