The registered nurses at UPMC Altoona voted overwhelmingly Thursday to ratify the tentative agreement that a union negotiating committee struck with hospital negotiators on Jan. 10, after 19.5 consecutive hours of talks.

Of the nurses who cast votes on ratification of the three-year deal, 91% approved, in keeping with the recommendation of the SEIU Healthcare PA bargaining committee, even as they justified the optimism of local President Jaime Balsamo — an optimism based on the union having obtained much of what it sought during bargaining, Balsamo said Thursday evening.

The union held the vote at Fairview United Methodist Church, just up the Fourth Street hill from the hospital, with sessions beginning at 8 a.m., noon, 4 p.m. and 8 p.m., and with walk-ins accepted between sessions, making it easy for nurses coming on and off shifts, according to Balsamo.

The contract calls for total raises averaging more than 18%, shrinking a pay gap with nurses at other hospitals in the region, which should help with recruitment and retention — problematic issues for the hospital, Balsamo said after the parties reached the tentative agreement.

The contract also calls for security enhancements, including installation of previously acquired weapons detection equipment in the main lobby area, to match the Emergency Department entry — with badge-only access everywhere else — along with “run, hide, fight” training for all staffers; identification of safe hiding spaces for workers; and more frequent Workplace Violence Committee meetings, all of which became more urgent after a patient attacked an Emergency Department worker in November.

The contract helps the hospital achieve its negotiating goals of supporting the nurses, strengthening the organization overall and serving the community, according to a hospital spokesperson in an email following approval of the tentative agreement. The hospital and nurses can now continue to focus on their “shared mission,” according to the statement.

The Mirror invited the hospital Thursday to comment on the ratification, but didn’t receive a response.

The union negotiating committee greeted nurses who came to vote with a presentation on the contract, an effort that included charts showing how the contract will affect individual earnings, Balsamo said.

Most were “quite pleased” with what they saw, Balsamo said.

The voters also seemed satisfied with how the contract dealt with other issues connected with staffing and retention, especially one that will require that traveling nurses, rather than hospital staffers, be the first ones called to “float” out of their specialty areas, according to Balsamo.

The union does not represent the travelers.

The union did not disclose how many of the approximately 500 nurses in the bargaining unit voted.

But it was a large percentage — “a great turnout,” Balsamo said.

The union notified hospital management of the results of the ratification vote Thursday evening, and the contract immediately went into effect, Balsamo said.

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