WORCESTER  — Nurses at Saint Vincent hospital voted to ratify their new contract with Tenet Healthcare on Monday, putting an end to one of the longest nurses strikes in state history. 

The results were announced at 9:30 p.m. in a press conference outside the Teamster Local 170 Meeting Hall in Worcester. Voting took place at the meeting hall from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. 

“This strike was never about you, it was about patient safety and patient staffing,” said Congressman Jim McGovern, who spoke at the press conference. Later adding, “This strike went on for over 300 days and you all stood strong for the patients you serve.”

In addition to McGovern, MNA political supporters, Mayor Joe Petty and James Cantwell, U.S. Senator Ed Markey’s state director, were at the press conference as well. 

A simple majority (50% plus one) from Massachusetts Nursing Association members was required to ratify the tentative agreement, which was reached during an in-person session mediated by U.S. Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh on Dec. 17. According to the MNA’s Facebook page, the union “overwhelmingly voted in favor” of the agreement.

The agreement the MNA reached with Tenet Healthcare allows striking nurses to return to their previous positions, a provision the union has been vying for since last summer. 

“With this agreement we can go back into that building with great pride not just in what we got in writing in the agreement, but for what we have built together as nurses who know they did everything they could for their patients and their community,” said Dominique Muldoon, a 19-year veteran of Saint Vincent Hospital who also co-chairs the local bargaining unit of the Massachusetts Nursing Association.

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. At the time, this was a dealbreaker for the Massachusetts Nursing Association (MNA), which had been out on strike since March.

“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 Chief Executive Officer Carolyn Jackson, in a Dec. 17 release announcing the tentative agreement. “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.”

According to the MNA, the agreement states that all nurses will be recalled within 30 days.