Allegheny County Council on Tuesday unanimously backed UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital nurses and advanced practice providers, voicing support for their push for national staffing standards as union contract negotiations with the health system continue.
Council approved a resolution urging UPMC to work collaboratively with the union to reach a fair contract while endorsing the workers’ call for safe staffing standards. Council members said those standards are essential to protecting patient safety and ensuring high-quality care.
“Magee delivers almost half of all births in Allegheny County, has the largest neonatal intensive care unit in our state, and provides a wide range of other critical services to the most medically complex patients from across Southwest Pennsylvania,” the resolution reads.
Council said the staffing challenges at Magee reflect a broader nursing shortage across Pennsylvania, where roughly 20,000 nursing positions remain unfilled — the highest number of vacancies in the nation.
Since the beginning of bargaining in January, many Magee nurses reported having too little time with patients and are grappling with high turnover, burnout, the loss of experienced nurses and inadequate benefits.
In March, Magee nurses presented their staffing proposals to UPMC, including standards established by the Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses, such as one dedicated nurse for every patient in active labor.
Michelle Hart, a nurse practitioner in Magee’s neonatal intensive care unit, said nurses in her wards have a two or three-baby assignment, which creates challenges in patient care.
“One-on-one care of these infants is critical for their survival and detecting early changes in their status can be life-saving,” Hart said in a news release. “22-weeks is the earliest a baby can be born with any chance of survival, and they are often critically ill for months. These fragile infants cannot breathe on their own without a breathing tube and ventilator.”
Since March, UPMC officials have not responded, a union news release said.
“UPMC has not responded in a timely manner to their staffing standards or other major proposals,” the resolution read. “The Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council released a recent report showing that Magee was the most profitable out of all 152 general acute care hospitals in the state.”
According to the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council, an independent state agency that tracks health care costs, quality and access, UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital posted $437.5 million in operating profit last year. Meanwhile, tax filings show UPMC CEO compensation rose to $13.3 million in 2024.
The resolution is Councilwoman Kathleen Madonna-Emmerling’s first piece of legislation she has introduced since being on council.
“A year ago, around this time, I chased down the SEIU Healthcare Director during the Labor Day parade, because I wanted to talk about the union campaign going on with the McGee nurses and advanced practitioners,” Madonna-Emmerling said.
Madonna-Emmerling, D-Moon, said the campaign resonates with her personally because she is the mother of three children born at Magee, a union member and a United Steelworkers organizer representing University of Pittsburgh staff.
“The right to organize a union also includes good faith bargaining, and this legislation encourages UPMC Magee administration, who lead not only the most profitable hospital in the UPMC system but in the state of Pennsylvania, to come to the table with all due haste,” Madonna-Emmerling continued.