The hospital, which severely cut back patient services when the strike started Dec. 2, says it will start to reinstate some of them this week, hiring 30 more replacement nurses, said Terry Long, chief financial officer for St.Francis Healthcare System.

"Since it appears the strike will go on for some time, we've decided to start resuming some of the areas that were cut to a bare minimum when the strike started," Long said.

St. Francis is one of three O'ahu hospitals where nurses are on strike. Nurses at Kuakini Medical Center began their strike Dec. 2 and nurses at The Queen's Medical Center walked off the job the next day. Nearly 1,400 nurses are on strike with no new negotiations scheduled.

Surgeries, which were cut to a bare minimum at the hospital or directed to the St. Francis West facility, where nurses are not on strike, will start to increase by the end of this week, he said.

"We're going to try to do some of the more complicated things like open-heart surgeries or transplants that we're known for," Long said.

St. Francis is probably the hardest hit of the three hospitals where nurses are on strike. Immediately after nurses walked off the job, the hospital reduced patient loads, curtailed operations and laid off more than 140 ancillary personnel, such as those in maintenance or food service.