Posted on: Saturday, May 19, 2001

Moloka'i General's six nurses continue walkout

By Christie Wilson
Neighbor Island Editor

The six registered nurses at Moloka'i General Hospital appear to be holding their resolve heading into the second week of a strike over wages.

There have been no contract negotiations since the nurses walked off the job May 12, and hospital co-medical director Dr. Phillip Reyes said yesterday that no talks are scheduled.

"We're hoping for the nurses to get back to work so we can get back to normal functions," Reyes said.

Moloka'i General is owned by Queen's Health Systems. The hospital has been covering nursing shifts with the help of two administrative nurses and another registered nurse.

The 30-bed hospital no longer is admitting patients in need of acute care, said Reyes, and a few have been transferred to off-island facilities. However, emergency care and urgent care are still being provided, as is long-term care for elderly patients and others.

The acute-care patient load at Moloka'i General is small anyway, averaging less than one patient a day, said Queen's Health Systems spokesman Joel Kennedy.

Nurses have been picketing outside the hospital and at more visible locations. "We think this is going to be for the long haul," said nurse Dino Fontes yesterday. "We're feeling better and better about it. The whole community is behind us. "

The nurses were holding signs along Kamehameha V Highway yesterday as visitors were expected to begin arriving on Moloka'i for the annual Ka Hula Piko festival.

Moloka'i's registered nurses are the lowest-paid in the state, according to the union. They make $25.10 an hour, about $3 less per hour than their counterparts at the Queen's Medical Center and other major O'ahu hospitals.

The union is asking for a one-time $350 bonus and 1 percent raise.

Hospital officials say the facility is running up losses of $2 million a year and relies on subsidies from the state and Queen's Health System.