BAR HARBOR, Maine — Events during a May 8 protest have apparently led to disciplinary action for the five Mount Desert Island Hospital nurses who attended the demonstration and then went into the hospital to talk to administrators.
At the weekday event, the nurses and community members rallied on the town’s village green and then marched to MDI Hospital to protest the closure of its obstetrics department. The protest had been organized by the Maine State Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee.
The hospital announced in March that it would close its obstetrics department on July 1.
“Mount Desert Island Hospital (MDIH) registered nurses are refusing to back down from their efforts to save Bar Harbor’s obstetrics unit, despite intimidation tactics by the hospital’s CEO and attorneys,” the union said in a May 15 press release.
According to the release, hospital attorneys sent the five OB nurses who attended the protest a letter notifying them that they’d been given written warnings for their actions that day.
“MSNA stands squarely with these nurses who are facing extreme retaliation from CEO Chrissi Maguire,” said Cokie Giles, president of the Maine State Nurses Association. “Instead of working with nurses toward solutions that could save Bar Harbor’s obstetrics unit, MDI Hospital’s management is resorting to lowbrow tactics. Labelling a peaceful assembly of nurses and community members as an ‘unruly mob’ is an attempt to distract from the community’s overwhelming opposition to their reckless and dangerous decision.”
The hospital said in a statement to the Bar Harbor Story on May 21, “The statement provided by NNU/MSNA painted an incomplete and inaccurate picture of both their activities on May 8 and the hospital’s position and response. However, in order to protect our employees’ privacy and the process’s integrity, it is our policy not to provide more specific comment about any personnel matters.”
In the letter to one of the nurses that was obtained by the Mount Desert Islander, attorney Daniel Strader, a partner at the Portland firm Pierce Atwood, wrote on behalf of the hospital that nurses had “barged” into Maguire’s office without invitation.
At the time, Maguire was on the phone. Strader wrote that the nurses had “cornered and aggressively confronted her for approximately 20 minutes.”
The letter also mentions that one nurse was working during the protest, and that hospital key cards were used to gain entry to the hospital building via a private entrance meant only for employee use, even though one member of the group was not an employee. This violates the hospital’s security policies, Strader wrote.
Strader called the protest “unlawful picketing.” In the letter, he said that those who participated and brought in the non-employee will be disciplined.
The hospital has stressed that the closure of the birthing unit is because of “a significant decline in births and the challenge of maintaining specialized staff for such low-volume care.”
In 2024, hospital staff delivered 33 babies.
“Critically, with so few births, our nurses and providers cannot maintain the necessary skills and experience required for safe deliveries,” the hospital has stated and reiterated on its facts page. “Patient safety is our top concern and ensuring that our staff can provide the highest level of care means making this difficult decision.”
A recent opinion piece by a hospital trustee, Edward Benz, in the Mount Desert Islander had similar testimony.
“Amidst the many individuals and groups reacting to this decision there are some who would have us believe that this decision was driven by money concerns, or that it was made thoughtlessly, or that it was cruelly ‘sprung’ on people. Not one of these assertions is true. Our CEO, Chrissi Maguire, and her team have clearly outlined the circumstances that made closure of this program necessary on our FAQ page. The incontrovertible fact of the matter is that there are simply too few births on MDI for our staff to maintain even the minimal levels of activity expected by obstetrical and gynecological oversight groups,” he wrote, adding that his views were not reviewed or endorsed by the hospital board and were his own.
The nurses and their union have said that other measures could be taken and there was little public transparency in the process prior to the closure’s announcement.
“Nurses are fighting for Bar Harbor’s patients and their community recognizes this. We are grateful for all of the community members who are in this fight with us and ask for your continued support in keeping up the pressure–it’s working clearly, and we will win this fight,” Giles said.
This story was originally published by The Bar Harbor Story. To receive regular coverage from the Bar Harbor Story, sign up for a free subscription here.
