Two psychiatric units at Butler Hospital have temporarily closed as the strike at Rhode Island’s largest mental health facility grinds on, forcing patients to seek care in emergency rooms that struggle to provide the treatment they need.
The hospital’s chief operating officer, Mary E. Marran, said the two-month strike has forced Butler to close about 40 psychiatric beds. The hospital typically serves about 200 psychiatric patients at a time.
Care New England has brought in temporary replacement workers at Butler, and a small number of employees who were part of the union have crossed the picket line to continue working.
Dawn Williams, one of the nurses on strike, said the hospital still needed to temporarily close a geriatric unit and an intensive treatment unit.
“They do not have enough temporary workers in order to fill our positions and provide the care that their patients need,” Williams said.
Emergency rooms will likely pick up even more psychiatric patients than usual while Butler is operating under capacity.
“They just stay there for days and days and days while they’re waiting for a bed at Butler Hospital,” Williams said.
Catherine Maynard, another Butler Hospital nurse, said psychiatric patients often wind up strapped to their beds in emergency rooms because there’s not enough staff to attend to their needs.
“Emergency rooms don’t have the resources that Butler Hospital does in order to take care of the patients properly and prevent any kind of restraint from happening,” Maynard said. “We just have a better skillset on how to keep the patients safe.”
About 800 Butler Hospital workers remain on strike as their union, SEIU 1199NE, negotiates a new contract with Care New England, the health system that includes Butler and several other hospitals in Rhode Island.
Care New England has cut off health insurance to the striking workers and is appealing a court decision requiring the company to continue contributing to the striking workers’ unemployment benefits.
At a protest on Wednesday, a Butler Hospital mental health worker, Ben Degnan, said he and his colleagues are in the midst of “the longest hospital strike in Rhode Island’s history.”
“Sign the contract that has been in front of you for two weeks,” Degnan said from a podium facing Care New England’s Women & Infants Hospital. “Sign it and we will be back to work by the weekend.”
Lt. Gov. Sabina Matos made a surprise appearance at the picket line. She said a friend and neighbor in the union asked her to join the protest that morning.
“We have not forgotten that you are the heroes that continued to work when no one else was working,” Matos said, recalling the role of essential workers during the pandemic. “And we’re here to show you support and to let you know that we’re going to be standing with you all along until you’re able to get back to work.”
“I want you all to know that the public continues to be on your side,” said State Rep. David Morales, who also attended. “Legislators from all across the state continue to stand with you.”
Marran, the chief operating officer at Butler Hospital, released a public statement later on Wednesday.
“We are committed to working toward a contract resolution that will allow us to reopen these units and restore full services to our community as soon as possible,” Marran said.
“Our staff are welcome back at any time,” she said.
