How Ascension Stole Christmas

Ascension Wisconsin and Ascension St. Francis gave a cruel gift to Milwaukee and its workers this Christmas, closing the only Labor and Delivery Unit on the South Side of Milwaukee.

December 16th, administrators told our union leaders, nurses and technical staff the shocking news that the Labor and Delivery Unit at St. Francis hospital would be closing just two days before Christmas. We sat in disbelief because administrators had told our nursing staff just three days before they had a plan to get providers and keep the unit open.

We told administrators that this will be devastating for the community and patients we serve, to which they flippantly replied that patients can go to Columbia St. Mary’s or St. Joseph’s. This leaves many patients with a much longer time driving or to rely on public transportation to get the care they need. Patients relying on transit in the immediately surrounding community or Oak Creek who would go to St. Joe’s can count on about a one- to two-hour long bus ride while in active labor. It is unimaginable to us that this is what Ascension administrators mean in their mission statement of providing quality care to patients.

This disregard for patients and our staff is nothing new for Ascension. The New York Times recently laid out how the multi-billion dollar corporation has created a staffing crisis within our hospitals. The article describes how their top administrators got richer at the expense of staff and patients. A former Ascension administrator revealed that bonuses are given for making decisions like closing our beloved Labor and Delivery unit. We asked how much of a bonus St. Francis administrators got for closing the unit.

Our union at St. Francis will not stand for this. We are fighting to stop Ascension from ripping this vital service away from our community and putting our compassionate nurses and techs out of jobs, many who have worked here for over 20 years.

We demand Ascension fully fund our Labor and Delivery unit so the South Side of our city has a thriving hospital to bring new life into this community. We demand a fully and safely staffed unit where mothers and babies can receive the world-class care they deserve and our staff wants to provide. We demand Ascension invest their billions of dollars into improving our collective health instead of cutting access to critical services.

We call on all City of Milwaukee leaders, community organizations, and community members to join us in this fight to save our Labor and Delivery Unit.

On Wednesday, January 4, we are calling a protest outside of the CEO of Ascension Wisconsin’s home. Administrators informed our union leaders that the CEO Bernie Sherry personally called Mayor Cavalier Johnson‘s office about closing the Labor and Delivery Unit. The protest will be on N. Prospect Ave. near Albion St. at 6 p.m., January 4.

We hope you will join us!

On behalf of the Wisconsin Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals St. Francis Chapter Leadership, we are:

Tracey Schwerdtfeger, RN
Val Gorospe, RN
Mikaela Wojciechowski, RN
Connie Smith, Charge Capture Coordinator
Gavin Rice, Sonographer
Kellie Lutz, PCA
Ryan Haman, PCA
Nadezhda Young-Binter, PCA