The CEO of two Aroostook County hospitals expressed concern Thursday night regarding a nurses union strike authorization vote for hospitals in Fort Kent and Houlton.
Jeff Zewe, the chief executive officer at Northern Maine Medical Center in Fort Kent and Houlton Regional Hospital in Houlton, said a strike is unnecessary because of new services and staffing plans at both hospitals.
“We sincerely hope the union does not call on nurses to abandon their patients,” Zewe said in a statement.
Registered nurses at both of The County’s hospitals, represented by the Maine State Nurses Association and National Nurses Organizing Committee, authorized bargaining teams to call a strike if their contract negotiations with management don’t move forward, according to a Thursday announcement by the union.
Nurses at both hospitals said they are fighting for patient safety and the ability to recruit and retain nurses.
The vote comes at a time of change for the two northern Maine hospitals, which have both eliminated their birthing services in recent years and last spring merged their management teams.
In late May, executives at Northern Maine Medical Center — Zewe and Chief Financial Officer Aaron Teachout — assumed management of the Houlton hospital through a one-year agreement. The Fort Kent administrators oversee operations at both sites, though the hospitals remain independent entities under the direction of their respective boards of trustees.
Houlton Regional Hospital has already taken significant steps toward stabilizing operations, Zewe said.
“We have begun much needed work to focus on continued outstanding patient care and stabilize our financial position,” he said.
But registered nurses from both hospitals said that they have been working without a contract for months and that administrators have been “dragging their feet” and not making any progress with negotiations.
The registered nurses at Northern Maine Medical Center joined the union in January 2024 and have been in negotiations with management for 16 months without a contract, said bargaining team member Brad Martinez, who works in the hospital’s emergency room.
“We should be much closer to a deal,” Martinez said in a statement. “Nurses voted to strike because the administration at NMMC has not addressed our concerns about safe staffing and fair pay.”
The union contract for nurses at Houlton Regional Hospital expired in November 2024, and they have been working without a contract for nine months, according to the union.
Zewe said he had asked the union for a short pause in the Houlton hospital negotiations while they completed a review of hospital operations.
“The union agreed to this pause,” Zewe said. “ We began meeting again two weeks ago and have a planned negotiation session for [Friday]tomorrow. We have been and will continue to bargain in good faith to come to an agreement on a new contract.”
Still, the recent strike authorization comes after the Maine Department of Labor cited Northern Maine Medical Center in February for 77 regulatory violations, including misclassifying nurses as subcontractors, failing to pay nurses overtime, failing to pay nurses their wages in a timely manner and requiring nurses to sign contracts that exempted the hospital from Maine’s labor laws.
In a settlement agreement with the state, the Fort Kent hospital did not admit any wrongdoing, but paid $15,707 directly to three nurses and $8,750 in fines to the state. The hospital was also required to participate in Department of Labor training.
At Houlton Regional Hospital, nurses spoke out in April against the announced closure of the facility’s labor, delivery, recovery and postpartum department. The unit closed on May 2. The 13 affected nurses were absorbed into other hospital positions, the union said at the time.
The labor and delivery unit at Northern Maine Medical Center closed two years ago.
The vote to strike is disappointing because Northern Maine Medical Center has been adding new programs and services for staff and patients, Zewe said.
The Fort Kent hospital recently approved the development of a new childcare center to better support staff with young families, he said.
Additionally, Houlton Regional Hospital just announced several new or expanded services including cardiology, pain management, orthopedics and urology as well as recruiting additional Primary Care providers, according to a release.
There is no date set for a strike.
“If a strike notice is issued, we have a comprehensive plan in place to ensure our community continues to receive the outstanding patient care they expect and deserve from us,” Zewe said.
