Saint Mary’s RNs are concerned about service shutdowns at their facility

Registered nurses at Saint Mary’s Regional Medical Center in Reno, Nev., will hold a silent vigil on Thursday, Nov. 17, to demand that hospital management respect patients, community, and nurses and to honor their colleague Darrella Lydell, RN, announced California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee (CNA/NNOC) today. The vigil comes less than a week after Saint Mary’s announced its plans to terminate Maternal Child Health services, displacing patients who need those vital services and nurses who work in the units caring for those patients.

“Since its founding in 1908, Saint Mary’s mission has been to provide comprehensive, quality health care to our community,” said Heather Wehking, an RN in the labor and delivery unit. “Diminishing access to critical services like these is a disservice to that mission and to the entire Reno area. Nurses from across Saint Mary’s will stand with us in obstetrics acute care, pediatrics, labor and delivery, and neonatal intensive care to make sure management knows we’re united.”

• Who: RNs at Saint Mary’s Regional Medical Center
• What: Silent vigil
• When: Thursday, Nov. 17, 9 a.m.
• Where: Saint Mary’s Regional Medical Center, 235 W. 6th St., Reno, NV 89503; vigil to take place at Arlington Ave. and 6th St.

Nurses also plan to honor their colleague Darrella Lydell, RN, who worked in the labor and delivery unit for 21 years and who passed away on Nov. 14.

“We know Darrella will be there with us in spirit,” said Holly Stephenson, an RN in labor and delivery. “Her life’s work serves as a testament to how vital these services are for the Reno community. To honor her, we need to make sure our patients get the care they need. And we need to demand, just as she would have, that our fellow nurses and our entire community have a say in the future of Saint Mary’s.”

CNA/NNOC, an affiliate of National Nurses United, represents more than 450 registered nurses at Saint Mary’s Regional Medical Center.

California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee is an affiliate of National Nurses United, the largest and fastest-growing union and professional association of registered nurses in the United States with nearly 225,000 members nationwide.