WORCESTER  — There’s light at the end of the tunnel for striking Saint Vincent nurses, thanks to a tentative agreement reached by the Massachusetts Nursing Association and Tenet Healthcare on Friday. 

On Dec. 17, Tenet Healthcare agreed to allow striking nurses to return to their previous positions, which the union has been vying for since last summer. 

“The new contract will provide enhancements for patients and our team, and we are glad to finally end the strike and put our sole focus back on patient care,” said Saint Vincent Hospital’s CEO Carolyn Jackson. “We will be setting a new tone at Saint Vincent Hospital: We are one team with a common purpose. Not striking nurses versus replacement nurses. Not nurses versus management. One team united behind the principles of professionalism, excellence, accountability, and compassion.”

The hospital plans on retaining the nurses hired over the summer as they return those on strike to their prior positions in order to prepare for a new wave of infections brought on by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and the new Omicron variant. 

According to a Dec. 17 statement announcing the tentative agreement from the hospital, “[T]he decision to allow striking nurses to return to their original positions followed careful consideration of the clinical challenges expected this winter throughout Massachusetts, and the resultant need for as many nurses as possible to provide quality care for our community.” 

Back in August, Saint Vincent hired over 100 “permanent replacement nurses” who took over for some of the nurses on strike, many of whom had decades of experience in specialized positions. At that time, Tenet Healthcare, the Dallas-based, for-profit healthcare company that runs the hospital, had agreed to increase nurse staffing at the request of the union, but would not agree to allow the replaced striking nurses to return to their previous positions. This was a dealbreaker for the Massachusetts Nursing Association (MNA), which had been out on strike since March.

“The huge obstacle was returning to our previous positions, which anyone knows if you are involved in any union, once you stand up with your legalized voice, which we did, to advocate for our patients and come to a settlement, your job should not be in jeopardy,” said Marlena Pellegrino, a co-chair of the Saint Vincent Hospital nurses’ local bargaining unit with the MNA. “So, with this tentative agreement on Friday, that obstacle has been removed; we achieved what we set out to do, our patients will be better taken care of with our staffing language and all of us will be returning to our previous positions.”

On March 8, about 700 nurses at the hospital went on strike after citing concerns over staffing shortages and increasingly dangerous conditions brought on by the coronavirus pandemic. The strike, which was in its ninth month when the tentative agreement was reached, is now one of the longest nurses strikes in Massachusetts history. 

“Finally, we will be returning – all striking nurses – to our exact positions we held before the strike. The exact shifts, hours and units, and that’s a huge victory for us,” said Pellegrino. Later adding, “This should send a message to all Americans that healthcare will be better served when nurses can speak their mind and have their concerns addressed and be valued and respected at the bedside. Our main goal was to provide better care for our patients – that’s why we went out on strike.”