Registered nurses from UPMC Altoona will protest in front of UPMC’s corporate headquarters at the Steel Tower in Pittsburgh on Wednesday over a “growing care crisis” in Altoona.

The notice about the job action from SEIU Healthcare-PA, which represents the nurses, referenced a 56-hour wait time warning issued recently to a relative of a city councilman who sought care in the Altoona emergency room.

The nurses will hold a press conference to “kick off” the 24-hour demonstration, according to the notice, which was sent by union spokeswoman Jenn Landolina Wood.

“Department wait times at UPMC Altoona have skyrocketed to 24 hours, with some patients waiting more than 50 hours to be seen,” Wood wrote in the emailed notice.

Nurses are “well aware that hospital systems across the state and country are over capacity,” due to staffing challenges worsened by COVID-19, Wood wrote.

And while they’re “proud to show up every day” to serve their patients, it’s the responsibility of major health systems like UPMC “to rise to the occasion,” she wrote.

UPMC is attempting to rise to the occasion, according to a statement in response to the Mirror’s request for comment on the nurses’ plans.

“We are working to monitor and prioritize care in our emergency departments and doing all we can to make sure those who have to wait can wait safely,” stated UPMC spokeswoman Corinne Weaver in an email.

“(Also) we have implemented a number of incentives to attract and retain nurses and other health care professionals (although SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania declined to participate in these programs),” Weaver said.

Hospitals across the country are experiencing similar problems, according to UPMC, because the demand for care has grown steeply in the last few months for both COVID-19 and non-COVID care, according to UPMC.

Many health care workers have been changing professions due to the stress of it all, “which means that more people want and need care from fewer people,” UPMC stated. “Demand is exceeding supply.”

Many non-UPMC hospitals in Pennsylvania and Maryland have been diverting patients from their emergency departments, adding to the pressure, especially in tertiary care hospitals like UPMC Altoona, according to Weaver.

UPMC Altoona currently has more COVID-19 patients than any other UPMC hospital, which correlates with the area’s vaccination rate, among the lowest in the state, according to UPMC.

UPMC needs to make a “real investment in nurse retention, rather than temporary solutions like increasing incentive(s) to work more or hiring additional travel staff,” SEIU’s Wood wrote.

“(The organization) has failed to direct enough of their tremendous resources to address the care crisis at UPMC Altoona,” she wrote. “It’s time for UPMC to stop hemorrhaging nurses and take bold action.”

That should involve recruitment and investments related to bedside care, she wrote.

The UPMC system took in $23 billion in revenues in 2020, according to the company’s “management discussion and analysis” in its “Year-End Financial and Operating Report & Audited Consolidated Financial Statements.”

Operating income for the organization in 2020 was $836 million.

That is $597 million more than for the year before, according to the report.

UPMC’s operating margin was 3.6 percent, although that was reduced to 2.8 percent after income tax and interest.

The organization has $8.4 billion in unrestricted cash and investments, a little more than $1 billion less than its total cash and investments, according to the report.

The UPMC system comprises 40 hospitals and 700 clinical locations, making it one of the largest nonprofit health systems in the U.S., according to the report.

It’s three major divisions comprise health services, insurance services and UPMC Enterprises, according to the report.

About a dozen Altoona nurses will be in Pittsburgh Wednesday into Thursday.

Their presence won’t further aggravate the staffing situation in Altoona, as othersare “pick(ing) up extra shafts as they can,” Wood wrote. The ones in Pittsburgh aren’t scheduled to work and are participating in the job action “on their own time.”

Despite the problems, people “should NOT be afraid to come to the emergency department if they are experiencing a medical emergency,” UPMC stated.

But those who have illnesses or injuries that is less severe “should take advantage of outpatient options such primary care practices, UPMC Urgent Care locations, UPMC Children’s Express Care, UPMC Walk-In Centers, or virtual appointments through UPMC AnywhereCare or UPMC Children’s AnywhereCare (for anyone up to 17 years old),” Weaver wrote.

Everyone who is eligible for vaccination — including vaccination for flu — should get it, Weaver added.

Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 814-949-7038.