Union says SRMC nurse was fired after speaking out about conditions at the hospital

On Aug. 19, Samantha Hines, an emergency nurse at the University of New Mexico Sandoval Regional Medical Center, delivered a passionate, emotional plea for the hospital to find ways to improve conditions for both staff and patients.

Hines spoke at a press conference outside of SRMC held by the United Health Professionals New Mexico division of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), the union representing UNM SRMC nurses and other health professionals.

UHPNM held the press conference to discuss its decision about the wage increase offered to all UNMH employees except those who are unionized at SRMC.

“Patient conditions are worker conditions. When there are an appropriate number of nurses, say, in the emergency department or on the medical-surgical floors, then patients get the quality of care they need. Providing a decent wage is one of many ways to make that happen,” Hines said at the press conference. "We are the front-line workers. We know exactly what is going on in this hospital. We are the ones that take care of you and your family. We want this hospital to be better. I think it's in the best interest of our community for SRMC to sit down and bargain with my union. They're hurting the community. They're hurting the employees while they sit up there and collect their checks I would like to collect.”

Less than two weeks later, Hines was issued a “notice of proposed termination” by SRMC, according to a UHPNM lawyer.

Shane Youtz, lawyer for UHPNM, said Hines received the termination notice and “the hospital has reserved its rights for three business days to decide whether or not they're going to change that. Technically, she's still employed there.”

UNM Health Sciences Center and UNM Health System Communications Director Chris Ramirez said in an email that as of Aug. 30, Hines is still an employee at SRMC.

"Providing high quality, safe care is the top priority at UNM SRMC. We hold all our employees to ethical, lawful conduct. It is the hospital’s policy not to comment on personnel matters, however we can confirm that as of (Aug. 30), the staff member the union has identified remains employed and is not terminated," Ramirez wrote in an email. "Additionally, we encourage the public to remain cautious of continued untrue statements made by AFT’s leadership. In this latest round of misrepresenting the actual facts, it appears AFT has accused the hospital of retaliation, which is demonstrably false."

Youtz said SRMC sent Hines a Notice of Proposed Termination, and “they sat her down in an office and asked her some questions and acted like she was going to get fired, so I expect she'll receive a notice of final termination in three business days.”

Hines also signed a letter to the editor that was published in the Rio Rancho Observer on July 19 about staffing shortages and other problems that are “inhibiting high-quality patient care.”

“This is obvious retaliation,” Youtz said. “This hospital, a public institution, is using taxpayer resources to fight the union at every turn since it formed more than two years ago, and now, facing a generational nursing shortage, they are discarding valuable healthcare workers who work diligently every day to improve patient outcomes.”

Hines said that the hospital should be working with the union at the bargaining table to come up with solutions to improve worker recruitment and retention and other ways to improve patient care.

“We, the healthcare professionals hired to care for the well-being of our community, are drowning. We need help. We need resources,” Hines wrote in the letter. “We need to work less than 12+ hours at a time. Most of all, we need leadership to come to our rescue. But UNM SRMC President Jamie Silva-Steele refuses to meet with the United Health Professionals of New Mexico, and all the while our patients are not receiving the care they deserve. We are on our own.”

Youtz said the hospital’s claimed basis for the proposed termination, which has not been disclosed to the public, will be shown to be “a pretext, a false claim in order to terminate her for her union activity.”

Youtz also said that the record will show Hines to be a very skilled and competent nurse. Hines has worked at UNM SRMC for nearly four years, since she graduated from nursing school.

Youtz said the union will immediately appeal Hines’ firing, if it happens.

“Others at work told me this would happen, but I spoke up on behalf of my patients and my co-workers anyway, and the hospital fired me for that. I’m just numb. They targeted me because I spoke the truth, that the hospital needs to do better and should work with the union,” Hines said. “It’s such a shame that the hospital would rather fire nurses than actually help them do their jobs better for the sake of patients.”