One of Wenatchee's largest employers, Confluence Health was previously known as a great place to work for nurses. There was a sense of community, camaraderie, and good relationships with management.
Central Campus, formerly known as Central Washington Hospital, is a beautiful, modern building located in the Wenatchee Valley. She's been a nurse for 20, 30, 40 years, and WSNA has been representing nurses for 50 years.
Confluence Health Central is fully staffed and should have over 500 nurses. Currently, that number is around 350.
Like many health systems, the coronavirus pandemic has left lasting scars. Nurses were divided over politics and the pros and cons of vaccination. Many nurses have retired. And there were major changes at the top, with a new CEO and an expanded role for the chief financial officer (CFO) with an emphasis on financial incentives. The CFO now oversees departments previously overseen by the chief nursing officer.
Gone are the days when top management knew everyone and walked around meeting patients and staff. Nurses are calling this the era of corporate medicine. Nurses say decisions, including implementing staffing plans, are made top-down without input from nurses.
Some departments, such as labor and delivery, are staffed based on national recommendations for nurse-to-patient ratios. But other wards, such as surgery, are admitting seven to nine patients per night instead of the recommended four to five. This fall, one nurse even reported working the night shift in a medical/oncology unit with 12 patients.
In February, nurses gave new CEO Dr. Andrew Jones a jar containing 5,000 jelly beans for every time a nurse missed a break. They also gave Dr. Jones a 15-page letter with evidence supporting the economic benefits of hiring more nurses and documented studies showing increased patient injury and mortality rates associated with larger duties. .
The nurses invited Dr. Jones to a staffing meeting. But he never came.
Nurses say if hospitals had safe staffing levels, more nurses would come, better outcomes would occur, and hospitals would benefit financially.
Nurses are tired of being divided into departments. They want to spend their energy mentoring young nurses and rebuilding the communities they loved before COVID-19.
In September, WSNA's bargaining unit at Confluence Health Central organized a large celebration at Sunrise Ranch to celebrate WSNA's 50th anniversary as a hospital. They had music, face painting, great food, and table decorations with fun nursing humor.
These nurses want the public to know that unions are not just about contracts. It's about making community and healthcare great.
Wenatchee, in north central Washington, has a large small-town feel, with a population of 35,433 and 64.5% white, according to the 2022 census. The Wenatchee Valley's population base is over 250,000 people.
“Wenatchee” comes from the Native American word “Wenatchee,” meaning “river flowing from the canyon” or “rainbow robe.” The Wenatchee people are part of a larger group of Native Americans known as the Interior Salish.
More than a dozen nurses interviewed for this article said they love the area, the nearby towns of Leavenworth and Chelan, the local festivals and the atmosphere. They said they would fight to stay here.
As they say, nurses are the voices of change. Because they have patient expertise, they know what changes will impact patient care.
They look forward to a return to nursing partnerships and a focus on care for the communities they serve.
In 2013, Confluence Health merged Central Washington Hospital and Wenatchee Valley Hospital (now Confluence Health's Mares Campus). Mares Nurses He organized in July 2023 in collaboration with WSNA.
