LAURIUM, MI— Nurses at Aspirus Keweenaw will hold a rally on Tuesday to ask for safe staffing levels, amid a planned expansion of the facility.
The Michigan Nurses Association says Aspirus recently made staffing changes at the Laurium hospital despite nurses’ concerns about its impact on their ability to provide safe, quality care. Nurses are calling on Aspirus to rescind the changes and invest in recruiting and retaining enough nurses to serve the community.
“We want our U.P. community to know that nurses are looking out for them and Aspirus is putting us in an impossible position as far as being able to provide the best care possible,” said Melissa Helppi, MSN, RN, who works at Aspirus Keweenaw and is president of the local bargaining unit of the Michigan Nurses Association there. “While improvements to the hospital are nice, what good is a hospital if there aren’t enough nurses to take care of the patients? This is a problem Aspirus can fix, if executives get their priorities in line.”
Aspirus closed its hospital in Ontonagon last year and eliminated labor and delivery services in Laurium.
The rally will be held Tuesday, May 13 at 5 p.m. on the pedestrian walkway on the Portage Lift Bridge. Nurses will stage at Veterans Memorial Park on the Houghton side shortly before 5 p.m.
