UPMC Altoona and the hospital’s 500 registered nurses have reached a tentative agreement on a new three-year contract.

Following three months of negotiation and a union campaign that called public attention to issues the nurses wanted to see the contract address, the new agreement raises wages and adds flexibility in working conditions to help with recruitment and retention, while adding security measures to help ensure employee safety, according to an SEIU Healthcare PA news release and union local president Jamie Balsamo, who spoke to the Mirror by phone Monday.

“Throughout this process the primary goal has been to reach a contract that supports UPMC Altoona nurses, strengthens the hospital and serves the community,” a hospital spokesperson stated in response to a Mirror request for comment. “UPMC Altoona believes this agreement achieves that goal and looks forward to continuing its focus on the shared mission of providing the very best care for our patients and community”

The union’s rank and file will vote on whether to ratify the tentative agreement on Thursday.

The union’s bargaining committee is recommending a “yes” vote, according to the news release.

The contract calls for raises averaging more than 18% over the course of the deal, with maximum raises more than 27%, according to the news release.

It raises starting wages for new nurses without a bachelor’s degree $6 to $36 and starting wages for those with a bachelor’s to $37.50 by the end of the contract.

It raises starting wages for casual nurses $8 to $38; and starting wages for “floating” nurses without a bachelor’s to $39.60 or $41.10, depending on degree status.

The changes are intended to make UPMC Altoona more competitive with hospitals Mount Nittany, where new nurses start at $41 an hour and other local hospitals that pay $38 or $39 — like Conemaugh Miners, Balsamo said in a phone interview.

“We closed that gap,” she said. “Six dollars over the life of a contract is a pretty big increase for us.”

The increases for new nurses also create cascading “compression” increases for nurses higher on the pay scale, although those diminish the further up the chain it goes, according to Balsamo.

The increased flexibility in working conditions include relaxation of rules governing 12-hour rotating shifts in some departments, according to Balsamo.

Under the old rules, there were variations, with some setups requiring nurses to work two weeks on daylight followed by two weeks on nights, after which the pattern repeated.

Sometimes the day-night switch happened more quickly.

That sort of pattern tended to wreak havoc on minds, bodies and personal lives, according to one source.

Under the new rules, nurses in the applicable departments — most of those that deal with inpatients — will be able to work with a scheduling committee to choose whether they prefer full daylight, full night or the old rotation.

Preference will be given to more senior nurses, a wrinkle that should help with retention, Balsamo said.

The contract will also make weekend working patterns more flexible.

Instead of working every other weekend, each department will vote on whether to move to an alternative setup: one that would require six weekend shifts — that is, a Saturday or a Sunday — in any pattern for each six-week period.

The contract also will bolster committee work to discuss staffing concerns, including short staffing.

Secure facility

The security improvements — which became an issue of more urgency after an Emergency Department staffer was assaulted by a patient in November — will include the use of weapons detection equipment for the screening of all visitors through the main lobby entrance.

The equipment had been purchased by the hospital a year ago, Balsamo said.

It was put to use Jan. 5, she said.

There was already such a checkpoint that was active at the entrance of the Emergency Department.

All other entrances to the hospital are “badge-only” access, according to the news release.

The contract also calls for “run, hide, fight” training or all staffers; Workplace Violence Committee meetings to be held every month, rather than every other month; identification of safe hiding places for workers; the posting of signs throughout the hospital warning that assault on a health care worker is a felony; and the hiring of more security staff, according to the news release.

The hospital has certified, armed police officers and unarmed security officers — all of whom are UPMC employees, Balsamo said.

The two sides reached the tentative agreement in a session that began Jan. 9 and lasted 19.5 hours until 4 a.m. Jan. 10, Balsamo said.

“We had a lot of really, really good conversations that day,” Balsamo said.

Sidebar sessions helped break deadlocks on issues that were “weighing heavily on both sides,” she said.

The need for wage increases to become competitive — and the retention of a bonus for nurses working extra shifts in short-staffed departments — were among those need-to-haves for the nurses, she said.

By contrast, an issue where the hospital prevailed was in not providing a guarantee to sustain the security enhancements, she said.

The union ended up settling for a guarantee only that there would be discussions prior to backing off any of the security provisions, she said.