8 nurses sue St. Vincent Hospital, alleging wrongful termination

WORCESTER ― Eight nurses are filing a wrongful termination lawsuit against St. Vincent Hospital and its parent for-profit company, Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare Corp., according to the Massachusetts Nurses Association.

Meanwhile, St. Vincent is back in compliance with the state Department of Public Health after an on-site investigation found deficiencies at the hospital, according to an email from the state agency. The communication offered no specifics on the deficiencies. The Telegram & Gazette submitted a public records request to obtain the information.

The investigation was triggered by complaints from nurses about unsafe care at St. Vincent.

The hospital was ordered to submit a plan to the state health department, laying out how it would correct deficiencies in order to ensure patient safety and quality of care. The department reviewed and accepted the plan, and the hospital returned to compliance.

In the lawsuit, expected to be filed Thursday in Worcester Superior Court, the eight registered nurses claim they were fired after lodging complaints about what they say is inadequate staffing harming patient care.

The suit was brought under the state’s Healthcare Whistleblower Law. It protects caregivers from retaliation after disclosing information about possible violations of regulations and established standards that pose a risk to public health.

“These nurses did everything in their power and met every obligation under their license and the law to protect their patients from harm,” said a prepared statement by Katie Murphy, a registered nurse and president of the Massachusetts Nurses Association. The union represents the eight nurses.

Murphy’s statement continued: “These nurses, who we are referring to as 'the St. Vincent 8,' are true heroes and represent the canaries in the dark mine shaft that is for-profit healthcare. We believe they have an ironclad case and hope the court acts quickly to provide the justice they so rightfully deserve.”

St. Vincent Hospital declined to comment on the lawsuit.

Those named in the suit include Katherine Antos, Jacqueline Charron, Alicia Dagle-Metz, Rachel DeNapoli, Megan Fikucki, Kayla Gill, Dominique Muldoon and Christina Nester.

They demand a jury trial and seek court relief for damages suffered. Additional demands include reinstatement of their jobs, reimbursement of legal fees and a permanent restraint on St. Vincent for future violations of the Whistleblower Law.

Hundreds of complaints

Nurses have filed more than 600 complaints since July with state and federal regulators that focus on low staffing that has allegedly resulted in deplorable conditions. They include unattended patients suffering injuries from falls, a woman in labor waiting more than five hours for a C-section, and patients unattended in emergency department hallways, left to sit in their own urine and feces.

Earlier this month, the Telegram & Gazette reported the state Department of Public Health had challenged a St. Vincent press release that said the department found no deficiencies in staffing and quality of patient care at the hospital. At the time, the state health department said the investigation remained ongoing, and no conclusions could be drawn.

Nurses cried foul at the time because they said St. Vincent didn’t let them meet privately with investigators from the state health department to share their concerns.

Meanwhile, a national accrediting agency determined St. Vincent Hospital is not meeting some standards for safe patient care. The Joint Commission said the hospital was "found to be non-compliant with applicable Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS) Conditions."

St. Vincent's accreditation is potentially in jeopardy and the commission said the hospital must demonstrate evidence that it complies with proper standards of patient care to keep its accreditation.

The Joint Commission is an independent nonprofit that accredits more than 20,000 health care programs and organizations in the U.S.

Lawsuit: Unsafe staffing and retaliation

Unsafe staffing cited in the lawsuit includes nurses managing up to 20 patients concurrently in the emergency department. Nurses claim that number violates the agreed-upon ratio in a contract that ended a nurses’ strike at St. Vincent that lasted more than 300 days, the longest in state history.

Meanwhile, the complaint describes alleged unfair treatment by management after the eight nurses made their complaints.

Stephanie Minardi, the director of nursing in the emergency department, is described as ordering the deletion of text messages circulated by nurses on an in-house WhatsApp in the emergency department that expressed concern about low staffing.

A Minardi text said: “(a)nd then start deleting the goddamn stupidity on the what’s app...They’re going to use anything and everything to make you look bad so beware of what you type and erase any of those comments in real time.”

In January, Dagle-Metz had a lacerated finger stitched up while on the job in the emergency department so she could treat patients during a shift that was understaffed. She was fired later that month, according to the lawsuit, for "theft” for getting a suture belonging to the hospital while at work, and also for using her cellphone at work. However, the suit said it’s common practice for nurses and supervisors to use phones to stay informed on medical responsibilities.

DeNapoli, who informed the hospital about unsafe staffing conditions, was told to “watch your back” by an emergency department technician when DeNapoli brought up potentially inappropriate conduct by the technician and Minardi, according to the lawsuit.

During the same shift, DeNapoli objected to managing as many as 12 patients, believing it was too many to ensure safe care. She was later placed on unpaid administrative leave and subsequently met with investigators from the state Board of Registration in Medicine to discuss concerns about staffing at St. Vincent.

Feb. 23, DeNapoli was fired. The termination letter referenced her complaints, and stated, “(w)hile the collective bargaining agreement provides patient guidelines for staffing on certain units, nowhere in the contract does it suggest that seeing patients over the particular guideline is unsafe.”

Complaints by nurses extended beyond the emergency department. Muldoon, who works in a postoperative unit, told manager Charlene Eli during a Jan. 15 shift that she couldn't assume a sixth patient due to safety concerns. “Shame on you” was Eli’s response to Muldoon, according to the lawsuit.

Later that day, Muldoon was suspended without pay. Approximately one month later, she was fired.

Antos worked in a unit that treats cardiac patients after surgery. Nurses in this unit shouldn't take on more than four patients, per the contract reached by nurses and management. However, a manager asked Antos during a shift in January to manage five patients and she objected, citing patient safety.

She was suspended without pay and later fired. According to the termination letter, “she stated that the collective bargaining agreement says taking more than five patients is unsafe (which it does not).”

Of the eight counts cited in the lawsuit — one for each nurse — each states termination in retaliation for making reports of unsafe and illegal practices at St. Vincent Hospital, a violation of the state's health care whistleblower law.

Contact Henry Schwan at henry.schwan@telegram.com. Follow him on X: @henrytelegram.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: 8 nurses sue St. Vincent Hospital, alleging wrongful termination