Magee Hospital Nurses Fight for More Staff And Improved Working Conditions to Serve Patients  

Labor Landscape

Since January, Magee-Womens  Hospital nurses have been advocating for more time with their patients by establishing minimum nurse-to-patient ratios.  

Help is now on the way.  

Allegheny County Council just unanimously voted on a resolution that  backed UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital and advanced practice providers, voicing support for their push for national staffing standards as union contract negotiations with the giant health system continue.  

“UPMC has not responded in a timely manner to their staffing standards or other major proposals, “ the resolution read. “The Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council released a recent report showing that Magee was the most profitable out of all 152 general acute care hospitals in the state.’’ 

Kathleen Madonna-Emmerling, a new Allegheny County Council member, introduced the legislation.  

Madonna-Emmerling, D-Moon, said the nurse’s campaign for improved staffing resonates with her personally because she is the mother of three children born at Magee, a union member and a United Steelworkers organizer representing the University of Pittsburgh.   “These nurses are fighting to improve care for their patients,’’ she added.  

Other contract issues include wages, health benefits, work hours and workplace safety.  

“My sister is a nurse at UPMC Shadyside Hospital and worries about safety issues,’’ said Madonna-Emmerling.  In fact, a new nationwide survey by National Nurses United found that nurses face multiple types of workplace violence on a daily basis, ranging from verbal abuse to verbal threats. The three most common types of violence reported were being verbally threatened (67.8 percent), physically threatened  (38.7 percent), and being pinched or scratched (37.3 percent).  

The Allegheny County Council also points out that  the staffing challenges at Magee reflect a broader nursing shortage across Pennsylvania, where roughly 20,000 nursing position remain unfilled – the highest number of vacancies in the nation.  

“It’s not about a nursing shortage, it’s about safe staffing. Nurses want to work but they must have the tools and staffing to do the job right,’’ said Wayne Reich, the CEO of the Pennsylvania State Nurses Association. “We need more programs to curtail workplace violence and staffing goals that allow nurses to do the job they know they can do. Nursing is not just a job, it is a calling,’’ said Reich, MSN, MBA and RN, with more than 18 years of experience..   

Since January, Magee nurses reported having too little time with patients and are battling high turnover, burnout and the loss of experienced nurses and inadequate benefits.  

Madonna-Emmerling’s resolution also reports that Magee delivers half of all births in Allegheny County, has the largest neonatal intensive care unit  in the state, and provides a wide range of other critical services to the most medically complex patients across Southwest Pennsylvania.  

In March, Magee nurses presented their staffing proposals to UPMC, including standards established by the Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses, such as one dedicated nurse for every patient in active labor.  

UPMC failed to return any phone calls about the nurse staffing question and other staffing issues. But according to the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council, an independent state agency that tracks health care costs, quality and access, UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital posted $437.5 million in operating profit last year. Meanwhile,  tax filings show UPMC CEO compensation rose to $13.3 million in 2024.  

A global leader in groundbreaking research, treatments, and clinical care, UPMC has more than 40 hospitals and 800 doctors’ offices and outpatient centers across Pennsylvania, Maryland and New York.  

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